Prince Albert Grand Council hopes future women’s shelter fills need in northern Sask.
The Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) is hoping a future emergency shelter will fill a need in the north for women and girls fleeing domestic violence.
Last week, the PAGC announced its plans to build a women’s shelter on Montreal Lake Cree Nation, located about 100 kilometres north of Prince Albert.
The PAGC Women’s Commission will be overseeing the shelter. Chair Shirley Henderson said they’ve been wanting to build a women’s shelter for about 20 years.
“We just about had tears in our eyes knowing that we were one of the 10 shelters approved,” she said.
The PAGC received funding through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Shelter Enhancement Program and Indigenous Services Canada.
“The demand is very high and every time you phone a shelter, it’s always full,” she said.
It will include 10 rooms and 25 beds. Henderson said there will be two family rooms and a cultural space, which, for many, is an important part of healing.
Henderson said they’ll bring in elders to lead prayers and talk about traditional ways of life.
“I think it gives them a sense of hope, that there is hope there, that there is a better life and with help, they can change that life and go on to something better.”
For the PAGC’s executive director Al Ducharme, shelters help prevent other issues Indigenous peoples tend to face at a higher rate, such as poverty and suicide.
The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) and the calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission showed that need, he said.
“There were all kinds of indications that something needed to happen, but nothing was happening,” said Ducharme.
He said he’s been working with Henderson since the idea of building a women’s shelter came about decades ago. The PAGC is working on projects to address other issues, he said, but they’re prioritizing helping those facing domestic violence.
“Often, the families and women and children in the north have a double-edged sword to deal with. They may definitely be facing a problem or a challenge because of domestic violence and poverty and things of that nature, but not only that, you can’t escape,” he said.
“If you’re a fly-in community or an isolated community, where do you go?”
Henderson said there are only two other women’s shelters in northern Saskatchewan, one in La Ronge and another in Black Lake. The Prince Albert Safe Shelter for Women also serves people coming from northern communities.
The PAGC plans to start construction on the women’s shelter in spring of 2022. It anticipates construction will be complete about a year later, in spring of 2023.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.