City Hall briefs
Council to explore Safe Ride program
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Mayor Mark Heyck wants the city to look into the creation of a Safe Ride program for people who are intoxicated in public but not able to make it to their homes.
Heyck told council on Tuesday night that homelessness and addictions remain a problem in the city's downtown and a priority for the municipal government but wanted to draw a distinction between homelessness and public intoxication.
"There are individuals who may be seen publicly intoxicated in the downtown who actually have homes ... but they are not getting there," Heyck said. "We are projecting approximately 1,000 additional ambulance calls for our fire division. The RCMP are strained to the limits of their resources. Stanton Territorial Hospital is seeing a massive influx of people whose only real issue is that they are intoxicated."
Heyck pointed to examples of programs across Canada - specifically Vancouver - where a government-funded mobile unit provides safe transportation for clients with alcohol and drug problems.
"It's become quite evident that what we have available to us, whether its ambulance services or policing services - we are not using our resources wisely as far as public intoxication goes," Heyck said. "Now is the time to relieve some of the stress and strain we are seeing on our emergency responders in terms of dealing with something that most often is not an emergency situation."
Heyck's motion to look into the program passed unanimously.
Fire-Smart volunteers wanted
Mayor Heyck also made a motion to direct city administration to invite residents to volunteer for Fire Smarting Yellowknife during last week's meeting.
Pointing to how well the public gets behind volunteer efforts to spring clean in the city, the mayor said he is optimistic they would want to get involved in this initiative.
Heyck said he would like the city to ask the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to help train citizens how to Fire Smart, which involves trimming branches and brush and removing potential fuel sources for wildfires.
During a weekly Department of Environment and Natural Resources press conference on the 2016 wildfire season on Monday, manager of fire operations Richard Olsen said his department has been contacted by the City of Yellowknife and aids municipalities in Fire-Smarting activities whenever possible.
Coun. Julian Morse raised concerns about liability, if the city were to ask residents to use chainsaws for instance. Administration said residents who are not trained in the use of chainsaws would not all of a sudden be asked to use them to clear brush - those volunteers would be involved in the removal and disposal of forest materials.
Morse said he was satisfied with the response and the motion passed unanimously.
Power outage no match for council
The lights went out in council chambers partway through last Tuesday's meeting. However there was no real disruption to the proceedings. Because the chamber has huge windows overlooking Frame Lake, there was enough natural light for council to continue. Mayor Mark Heyck said to the best of his recollection, this was the first time a blackout hit during the middle of a meeting.
"It's a good thing we have windows in here now. It's not as noticeable as it would have been three years ago," he said.
The outage was due to an equipment malfunction at the Jackfish generating station. Power was restored after about 30 minutes, shortly after the meeting ended.
