Jess McDiarmid
Northern News Services
Published Friday, November 2, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Yellowknife residents at a town hall meeting Monday night urged the city to address crime and social issues downtown.

Coun. Paul Falvo organized the meeting to talk to residents about their concerns - and possible solutions - to what some called an increasingly crime-ridden downtown core.

Businessman Dennis Squires recommended the RCMP have foot patrols in troublesome downtown areas. "It's getting to the point where I don't want to go downtown," said Squires. - NNSL photo./Jess McDiarmid

"There's not a lot of people slapping me on the back when I'm walking around downtown, saying what a great job city council is doing, that we've eradicated poverty and crime," said Falvo. "We don't get that. At best, I'd say things are staying the same and they even may be getting worse."

Businessman Dennis Squires said he expects "a racket" when trying to get into businesses and called on the RCMP to do foot patrols.

"It's getting to the point where I don't want to go downtown," said Squires. "I'm tired of it."

In citizen surveys over the past three years, Yellowknifers have identified social problems as the most significant local issue.

Some complained about crowds hanging around hassling passersby and said they are afraid on their streets. When one man talked about seeing drug deals going down in public, many of the approximately 25 people around the table at City Hall nodded in agreement.

Attendees also pointed out there is nowhere for homeless people to go during the day when shelters close so they wind up on the street.

Downtown resident Sue Glowach said people who live in shelters need somewhere to go during the day.

"I appreciate the problem is a territorial government responsibility but the city needs to be a huge partner in that," said Glowach.

Arlene Hache, executive director of the Centre for Northern Families, said shelters don't have the resources to staff day programs. They need more support, she said.

"I don't believe that you are going to fix the problem without the proper support," said Hache.

Social services are responsibilities of the territorial and federal governments, Coun. Bob Brooks told the meeting. The city provides "hard services" such as garbage disposal and works with community groups to improve the city.

Municipal governments "walk a fine line" dealing with social problems because taking over social services from other levels of government means diverting taxes to pay for them, Brooks said.

"We're not ready to have services downloaded on us," he said. "There are no silver bullet answers."

Adrian Bell urged the city to act on plans to revitalize the downtown. Drawing more residents and businesses into the area would provide "more owners, more stakeholders, more eyes looking at the same problems, more living room lights lighting up our streets."

Bell said little has been done on previous plans and challenged the city to address the problems this time around.

"My question is, who is going to champion these things in council," he said. "Someone has to stand up and change it."

Falvo said after the meeting he was disappointed no MLAs showed up. But he said the city could address some concerns, such as downtown enhancement and planning.

The meeting was a first step, said Falvo. Next, priorities to work on must be set, more meetings held and action taken, he said.

Concerns and suggestions from the meeting will also be on councillors' minds during the upcoming budget deliberations, Falvo said.