Yukon government gives Whitehorse shelter operator three-month contract extension

The Yukon government has extended its contract with the non-profit organization that runs the Whitehorse emergency shelter for an additional three months. 

The announcement comes as one First Nation is decrying "repeated Indigenous deaths" at the shelter and calling for the non-profit, the Connective Support Society, to be fired — a call echoed by family members of a woman who died there in December. 

Connective's current contract for 405 Alexander St., including both the emergency shelter and the long-term housing units above, was set to expire at the end of the month. However, the Yukon government announced in a news release Monday that it would be extended until June 30.

The release says that the government will work with Connective, the Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN) and First Nation governments "to refine the long-term framework for shelter and housing services, improve culturally relevant programming, safety and on-site services" over the additional three-month period. 

It also says the government will organize a summit "to identify how the model can change inside 405 Alexander to better meet client and community needs."

"This short-term extension ensures the continued delivery of critical shelter and housing services for these and other vulnerable Yukoners as we determine long-term solutions for this critical service," the release says.

The Yukon government would not make anyone available for an interview Monday.

Connective, in partnership with CYFN, took over shelter operations from the Yukon government in October 2022. The building was previously run by the Salvation Army from its opening in 2017 until 2019. 

The property has since been plagued by controversy, including over the growing number of people who have died while using shelter services or visiting residents in the housing units. The Yukon Coroner's Service held an inquest held last April after four First Nations women died at the shelter within the span of 15 months, with the jury issuing eight recommendations.

At least three people died at 405 Alexander in the months following the inquest's conclusion, two of them within a two-week span in December. Among them was 21-year-old Carmen Melancon, who died Dec. 30 of a suspected overdose in a long-term housing unit at the shelter. Her death and the ongoing impact on her community prompted her First Nation to call on the government last week to fire Connective, "without further delay."

"These repeated Indigenous deaths are unacceptable, and they need to stop now," the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun (FNNND) said in a statement. "Connective is out of chances."

The statement was strongly supported by Melancon's family, including cousin Karen Nicloux. 

Nicloux, who had urged the government to not renew Connective's contract, said in an emotional interview Monday that she was "very disappointed" to learn that the government had, in fact, extended it. 

"I'm so sad because I just keep thinking, 'How many more have to die?'" she said. "How many people are going to die in the next three months?"

Nicloux, who has worked with shelter users, said she wanted to issue a challenge to CYFN and Yukon government officials, including the premier, to visit the shelter unannounced. 

"Dress down, walk into the shelter in the evenings and see what goes on for yourself," she said. "Walk around the backyard. Walk through the dining hall, walk through the TV room, and check the bathrooms.... Enough is enough."