The Saskatoon Tribal Council has just signed a $4.2 million agreement with the provincial government to continue operating the Emergency Wellness Centre for the next 12 months.
STC Tribal Chief Mark Arcand says the EWC has houses over 60 families, and all 106 of their beds have been filled since inception. He adds that these results are proving the shelters’ worth to the provincial government, and to the frustrated members of the neighborhood in which the EWC resides.
“I understand that people don’t want it in their neighborhood, but nobody is coming up with a solution to say, ‘here’s a facility, here’s a location that has all the amenities.’ If somebody does that, we’re open to ideas.”
A report recently released by the Saskatoon Police Service and Fire Department shows that although there was a steep increase of calls for service to Fairhaven and Confederation after the EWC was opened in December of 2022, the numbers have started to decline after the shelter stopped allowing those with complex needs inside.
“Since October 1st, when we made our decision to remove (people with) complex needs, the stats and the data is showing that it’s improving. It’s going back to the levels of 2021 when people were saying there is no crime in these neighborhoods.”
In September, there were 282 calls for service from Fairhaven, a number that sat at 174 by December. However, year over year, total calls for service in Fairhaven and Confederation have increased by 38% and 122% respectively.
He acknowledges that those who live in Fairhaven and Confederation are frustrated with the crime happening in their area, but he says neighborhoods without homeless shelters, such as City Park, have similar if not higher crime statistics, which goes to show the EWC is not to blame.
The report shows that there were 1297 neighborhood property crimes in the Confederation Suburban Centre in 2023 compared to just 646 as the five-year average between 2018-2022. Meanwhile, Fairhaven didn’t make the list as one of Saskatoon’s top ten cities with the greatest increase in property crimes.
