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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
After several months of fighting for access to the west side of the Union of Northern Workers building on 52 Street and their apartments above, tenants finally have a working gate.

Kathryn Carriere says she is pleased to finally have a working gate on the west side of the Union of Northern Workers building on 52 Street but she is still concerned about her safety. It would be better if there was no gate at all, she said. - Miranda Scotland/NNSL photo

But the gate comes with stipulations, and one renter says she's not willing to abide by them.

To get a key to the gate, which was installed last week, tenants had to agree to a list of rules, including that they wouldn't lend their UNW building, apartment or gate keys to anyone who doesn't live in their home.

Tenant Michelle LeTourneau said she didn't get her key because she refused to sign the agreement, so she now has to go through the alley in the rear of the building again to get to her apartment.

"I'm not playing these games anymore," she said. "The piecemeal way that this has moved forward and this absolute power trip where there is this need to control us, I object to this completely."

The initial dispute regarding access to the building came about after a fuel spill on a neighboring property blocked access to the east side of the building in March 2011. Two months later tenants started asking the UNW to provide access on the west side of the building. However, it took a few rulings by the NWT rental officer, a number of Supreme Court hearings and almost a year before the union installed the gate.

Resident Annemieke Mulders said she reluctantly signed the agreement so she could have safe access to her apartment.

"I pointed out to them (that the rule) was a bit troubling. For example, what if I go on holidays? Does this mean that I can't leave my keys with my sister to water my plants and to check on my apartment?" She said. "I was told that I still had to sign it and if I was planning to go on holidays I could let them know and maybe they would give me special permission to lend my keys to my sister, which I thought was a little bizarre."

Still, Mulders said she is pleased to finally have access from the front of the building and already feels safer because of it.

"I think this will improve things a lot," she said. "Sometimes there are things going on in the back alley that it's frightening to walk through and now I can go right out the door, turn right and go straight to the street."

Kathryn Carriere, who filed the first application with the rental officer, said she is also pleased with the gate but still feels a permanent opening in the fence would be safer. Also, she is concerned that the lock will freeze during the winter.

"You've got to stop, you've got to get your key out Š And if somebody is walking by they certainly are going to have time to come up behind me," she said, adding it is better than the alternative, though. "It's still safer than taking the alley, absolutely."

Nevertheless, access to the west side of the building, which has eight residences, could be taken away if the UNW wins its appeals against the rental officer's decisions on the three tenants' files. It has also been suggested that the union will not be providing access on the east side of the building once work on the neighboring lot is complete, according to the tenants.

The union did not return calls.

"I think they like no traffic," said Carriere. "They like the fact that they've limited traffic flow around their building and I think now we have almost become collateral damage."

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