Announcement digs out old adversaries
Northern News Services
Friday, June 2, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The John Howard Society, once a target of Robert Hawkins when he was the MLA for Yellowknife Centre, is now facing doubts from its former executive director Lydia Bardak who Hawkins replaced.
In 2013, the issue was the John Howard Society's management of the Dene Ko day shelter while Bardak was in charge. Now, the issue is the society's capacity to manage A New Day, a domestic violence support program for men.
Bardak is one of 14 signatories of an open letter to the territorial government questioning changes to the program in a request for proposals to take it over from the Tree of Peace.
She said she was involved in the creation of A New Day from the beginning, and while she had at one point tried to get the society involved, isn't convinced the current society can pull it off.
"There's one part-time person working at the John Howard Society ... It's another hurdle for guys who want to go and seek help, because you show up and there's nobody's there, or the office isn't open," she said. "If we accept the lethality of family violence I don't think it's a part-time gig for somebody who, to quote the RFP, may or may not have knowledge of family violence ... That, for a government that's risk-adverse, that's a highly risky thing to do."
Hawkins said he couldn't say whether there was funding or a plan in place for the society to go full-time.
'"I don't know. That's a mechanics question. But as far as program availability that's not going to change," he said. "I will be offering the exact same services."
He said the society is already in talks with some "fantastic" facilitators to take on roles with the program.
But Bardak is skeptical, especially considering what she says are many other groups in the city who wouldn't "touch that RFP with a 10-foot pole." The John Howard Society was formally a member of the Coalition Against Family Violence but is not currently a member.
"John Howard doesn't have a relationship with the NGO community here," said Bardak.
She is also concerned that, since the future of the program has been uncertain since a review was announced last November, that there will be a backlog of clients waiting to enrol, making for a challenging transition July 1.
"I don't know how women and children can possibly be safe," said Bardak.
