Retired Yellowknife couple fearing for safety, sanity amid violence at nearby apartment

WARNING: This article discusses domestic abuse.

A retired Yellowknife man is concerned for the wellbeing, and safety, of his elderly wife as they deal with what he describes as regular violent and loud disturbances from tenants and visitors of an apartment building across the street. 

Keith Sanders, who has lived across from Sunridge Place with his wife since 2018, said the situation became unbearable this summer when they only got three nights of sleep in a 15-day span. It's gotten to the point where his wife fears even leaving their home.  

"The noise is essentially like a party noise with these young people shouting over the top of each other," he said. "They shout as loud as they possibly can. There is no restraint. And it goes on and on."

Sanders said drug use and drug dealing are contributing to, if not causing, the disturbances.

In an email, RCMP Insp. Dean Riou said the police have "proactively conducted numerous drug trafficking investigations in this location and throughout the city over the past several years." 

Sanders said he has also heard regular incidents of domestic violence.

"We hear on occasion the sound of a young, young woman, and not just one young woman, being physically assaulted. She's screaming, 'You can't do that. Leave me alone. Don't touch me,'" he said. 

Sanders said he's called the police over 20 times this summer. But he said officers have shown up in less than half of those incidents.

Riou wouldn't say how many calls have been reported about Sunridge this summer, but said "police respond to calls for service as they arise and do proactive patrols in high-crime areas." 

Another neighbour didn't want to be interviewed, but confirmed Sanders' account of the past few months. 

'She's 76 and has little resilience left'

While speaking with CBC News, Sanders' wife had to leave the room as she said recounting what they're dealing with can be too distressing. 

Sanders, 71, said he's worried for her life as she has high blood pressure. 

"She's 76 and has little resilience left and I fear that a spike in blood pressure could see her off," he said.

The couple have been in situations where they have feared for their lives, dealing with several firearm-related incidents, including one in early January that had the street closed. 

Sanders said during that incident he and his son were downtown while his wife and daughter-in-law were home. While the street was closed, his son couldn't return home while his wife and daughter-in-law couldn't leave. 

"A stray bullet, nothing in this house is going to stop it," he said. 

"So they were in immediate, immediate danger, and we could do nothing about it."

Threats to their safety

Sanders said he's tried everything to deal with the situation.

He said he's spoken with one of the residents who lives in the apartment unit often involved in the disturbances, but the situation continued.

He said one time, an escalating dispute spilled out onto the street. 

Sanders said he tried intervening, but the situation grew more heated and threats became directed at him. 

He said his wife is fearful to even leave the home to get mail, as the people in the building know about their complaints. 

'Feeling abandoned'

Sanders has now reached out about the situation to elected officials at all levels.  

But he said he's hardly received any responses. 

One of the few responses came from Yellowknife Coun. Stacie Smith, who responded to him by email to say that he has her full support and that the situation is at a "boiling point."

"I too am tired of seeing this issue grow, there are far too many new unknown faces on our streets, I have lived here my entire life and never have I seen it this bad," she wrote. 

But overall Sanders said "feeling abandoned" by elected officials would be "putting it kindly." 

Sanders said he thinks the solution is for the N.W.T. to change its policy around public housing. Several apartments in Sunridge are public units, meaning the rents are subsidized by the territorial government. 

But Sanders said he feels the rules are too relaxed for tenants of public units, as evictions for criminal behaviour don't happen nearly enough. He said the leniency allows for those involved in illegal activity to live there, while people who have low incomes and are in need are unable to find housing. 

CBC News reached out to Housing NWT about the situation but didn't receive a response by deadline. 

Moving also appears to be out of the question, Sanders said. 

"We're going to ask somebody to buy this house?" he asks. "Who's going to? Who's going to make an offer?"

Northview hires security firm

Sanders said the one organization that did recognize the issue was Northview, which owns the building. 

He said they've established a security firm that has been in regular contact with the nearby residents on the street and are quick at responding to incidents. 

"Given the scope of the security and social issues that are impacting this part of downtown Yellowknife, we expect to continue to employ these dedicated services for some time," said Linay Freda, a vice president of Northview, in an email.

Sanders said the number of disturbances have decreased to about three times a week since the security team was deployed. 

However, they still deal with the danger and a disrupted sleep pattern. 

Sanders said he's lived in the North since 1987, just retired in March and was hoping to relax with his wife who is also retired.

"We literally can't go out, we have to close the windows and doors," he said. "We have no free enjoyment of this property."