Saskatoon Tribal Council shelter to evict dozens with 'complex needs'
Saskatoon Tribal Council will bar around 30 people with "complex needs" from its Emergency Wellness Centre as of Oct. 1.
"The Wellness Centre will actually be pushing people with complex needs away that are not following the rules in regards to using drugs on our property," Tribal Chief Mark Arcand said during a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
"They're putting a needle in their arm, or they're using crystal meth and that's the issue. They're not there to get healthy. They're there to actually use drugs in our facility and we've got to find a different mechanism to support those individuals," he said.
"We've been talking to them weekly, daily about what's coming, and they have a choice to make. They know the rules."
While Arcand acknowledges there's nowhere else for homeless people suffering from severe addictions to go, he said the STC is simply not equipped to handle their needs.
"STC is currently not looking [to start] a complex needs facility because I don't have the money to do it. I don't have the money to buy a facility. I don't have the money to run a program for that facility," Arcand said.
"We need facilities in our city ... it needs to be more than one. I'm hoping the City of Saskatoon is listening; the province. No more of these facilities on the west side they got to go to the east side of the city, or the north or the south."
Arcand said the new policy will allow the centre to focus more on families and individuals who the staff are in a better position to help.
He said 68 families and 43 individuals have been successfully housed since the centre opened.
Arcand also revealed the STC has moved 32 families from the wellness centre into a new 55-unit facility called Kotawan 1 — located in the former Monarch Yards building on Avenue K South.
"We've proven it with families and we've proven it that individuals want help. [They] just got to try to get over the hump and we just have this obstacle in this way," Arcand said.
"But we can’t give up on those individuals with complex needs. We've just got to find a place for them to go so they have the proper supports."
When speaking with reporters, Arcand noted the most "chaotic" days at the centre are typically when people suffering from addictions receive their Saskatchewan Income Support (SIS) cheques.
"They're going to use their money to buy things that they don't need. They're not using it to buy food, they're not using it to buy clothes or anything like that."
When SIS was introduced in 2019, it marked a departure from previous social assistance programs where money was paid directly to landlords and utilities. Now funds are provided to clients directly.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

BREAKING Claims of toxic workplace at CSIS absolutely 'devastating': PM says
Allegations of a toxic workplace culture, involving harassment and sexual assault at Canada's spy agency are 'devastating' and 'absolutely unacceptable,' Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday.
Alberta set for $5.5B budget surplus, despite big bucks for fires, floods and drought
Alberta’s budget surplus is growing but will be offset by more than $1 billion this year to pay for floods, forest fires and drought.
Here's when Canada Post says you should send out your holiday packages
Canada Post had released a holiday guide on when Canadians should mail out their packages.
TREND LINE Liberals and NDP tied in ballot support, Conservatives 19 points ahead: Nanos
The governing minority Liberals' decline in the polls has now placed them in a tie for support with their confidence-and-supply partners the NDP, while the Conservatives are now 19 points ahead, according Nanos' latest ballot tracking.
2023 Atlantic hurricane season ends; finishes 4th for most-named storms
The 2023 Atlantic hurricane season comes to an end on Thursday as the fourth
More Israeli hostages freed by Hamas as truce in Gaza lasts another day
Hamas began freeing Israeli hostages Thursday in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners to be released as part of a last-minute deal to extend their ceasefire in Gaza by another day. But any further renewal of the truce, now in its seventh day, could prove more daunting since Hamas is expected to set a higher price for many of the remaining hostages.
What to know about the Sikh independence movement following U.S. accusation that activist was targeted
The U.S. has charged an Indian national in what prosecutors allege was a failed plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist at the behest of an unnamed Indian government official.
Alternative healer faces manslaughter charge over woman's death at a U.K. slapping therapy workshop
An alternative healer who advocates a technique known as 'slapping therapy' was charged Thursday over the death of a woman at one of his workshops in England seven years ago.
Chinstrap penguins nod off more than 10,000 times per day in seconds-long 'microsleeps,' study finds
A new study has documented the peculiar sleeping habits of this species of penguin. Instead of taking one long continuous period of sleep, chinstrap penguins prefer to sleep in seconds-long intervals, more than 10,000 times a day.