What's the eviction process for tenants in public housing accused of illegal activity? N.W.T won't say

A Yellowknife resident who has raised concerns after weeks of hearing possible domestic abuse and late night partying across the street, had a meeting with the territorial government on its policy around public housing evictions.  

Keith Sanders, who lives across the street from the Sunridge Place, said the current policy protects people engaged in illegal activity, while taking up units from other low-income people who are in need.  

Sanders told CBC News he and his wife only got three nights of sleep in a 15-day span in July. He feared for his wife's life as she is in her 70s and has high blood pressure. He said he called the police and city bylaw on multiple occasions, including after seeing and hearing several late night violent altercations. 

In an email to CBC News in August, RCMP Insp. Dean Riou said the police have "proactively conducted numerous drug trafficking investigations in this location [Sunridge Place] and throughout the city over the past several years." 

CBC News reached out to Housing NWT on Sept. 12 to ask what the policy is for evictions involving those living in subsidized housing, but never got a response. 

Residential Tenancies Act

According to the Residential Tenancies Act, any illegal activity in a rental housing unit is grounds for eviction or lease termination, so is domestic violence — although that section of the legislation focuses more on violence toward children than partners.

But for an eviction to take place the landlord needs to make an application to a rental officer which has to be approved. If approved, it can go before a Supreme Court judge who will make a decision. The process can take months.

Rebecca Alty, Yellowknife's mayor, said the length of time to get an eviction can make the issue worse. 

"There's no stick really to hold somebody accountable, since they kind of know that they're going to be in trouble in a couple months," she said.  

Additionally the act states if a tenancy agreement for subsidized public housing is terminated but a rental officer rejects it, determining it is unjustified to evict the tenant, "the denial of the application operates to reinstate the tenancy agreement as a monthly tenancy."

CBC News requested an interview with Paulie Chinna, the N.W.T. minister of housing, on the policy, but the request was declined. 

The meeting

Sanders, Alty and Chinna held a meeting to discuss the subject.

Other participants included Julie Green, the MLA for Sanders' riding; Katrina Nokleby, Great Slave MLA; and management from Northview, the company that owns the building.

Sanders said he wasn't impressed with the meeting, but that he didn't have high hopes going in.

"The responses were generally, 'well, we can't do anything. Our hands are tied, so we have to form a committee to figure out what committees we need to start deliberating,'" he said. 

In the N.W.T. there are multiple housing jurisdictions, including the department, then there's Housing NWT, which offers the programs and there are housing associations and regional administrators. 

"The setup [has] been made so convoluted with the landlord, the landowner, and then two housing authorities between them, then the housing corporation and then the tenant," Sanders said. "So nobody knows who the landlord-tenant agreement is with." 

Green and Chinna both confirmed by email the meeting happened but did not agree to be interviewed or offer any details. A spokesperson for Chinna said this was due to privacy concerns.

Nokleby said she attended to offer support to Sanders, as this is an issue she's also heard from constituents. 

"I have several lower income apartments in my riding and it's a constant battle and just a constant ask for people to be moved, especially for people with children," she said. 

Nokleby said there's been issues with crack users in certain buildings. 

Housing first model

Nokleby said it's a complex issue, but she feels there could be a solution around offering additional services for those who need it. 

Mayor Alty said the city received federal funds for a housing program that's assisting about 23 tenants. 

Similar to Nokleby's point, Alty said the money is used for a model called Housing First, that has employees who offer assistance to those living in the units. 

"This is a good model, it's proven to work," she said, adding another example would be the Spruce Bough shelter, the former Arnica Inn, which is run by the Yellowknife Women's Society.

"There's some stuff in the city that's working, we just need to grow those models."  

Sanders said the situation has improved for him since Northview hired a security team from Alberta.

But he said the situation requires a legislation change and without it, the issue will just recur.