'What gives him the right': Tribal chief lashes out at Saskatoon city councillor for sending letter to province

Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Mark Arcand isn't taking kindly to a letter Saskatoon councillor David Kirton wrote to the premier and four ministers last week about homelessness, addictions and mental health issues in his ward and across the city.

"I apologize to the premier and the ministers. I have no part of this and I want no part of this," Arcand said Tuesday after calling a news conference to respond to the contents of the letter.

"I'm really tired of David Kirton and his antics, and riding my coattails and the work that we're doing."

On Monday, Kirton released a letter he sent to the province detailing homelessness, addictions and mental health at "crisis levels" in Saskatoon. He would like to see a working group review the STC's Emergency Wellness Centre and its effects on residents and the greater neighbourhood, find more supported spaces for 100 homeless people with complex needs and see changes to the province's Social Income Support program. 

Arcand called a news conference Tuesday morning to voice his displeasure with nearly every facet of the letter.

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"The reason (he wrote the letter) is because he's getting political pressure from his residents. And he's got to make a decision. He's either going to be part of the solution, or he's part of the problem," he said.

Arcand said his confidence in the City of Saskatoon has been shaken because of the letter, and it's also affecting his negotiations with the province two days after the STC's shelter ran out of funding for the fiscal year. He says the province has extended funding for the next two months as both sides negotiate a new deal.

Kirton, who is the councillor responsible for the Fairhaven area, repeatedly said he did not mean to personally offend Arcand with the letter during a Tuesday afternoon interview.

However, he seemed to question Arcand's tactic of making everyone with criticism towards the wellness centre an instant enemy.

"If you acknowledge that there's a change in Fairhaven, we could work together. As long as you don't acknowledge that, as long as you call everybody who complains to you a racist then all we're going to see is the neighbourhood and tribal chief butt heads constantly," Kirton said.

During a 45-minute media availability, Arcand dissected the letter and every part he disagreed with Kirton, specifically how some of the information contained within it came from Arcand.

He said a working group reviewing the wellness centre and some of the other items Kirton listed are already happening. He also said if Kirton wants to help, he can raise a motion at city council asking the city to contribute $1.5 million to help the shelter be sustainable as inflation is forcing the STC into the red on the project.

"Why is he calling for a review? He's not putting in a damn penny, right? He's not," Arcand said. "So what gives him the right?"

Jason Mercredi, the director of social development with Métis Nation -- Saskatchewan said barriers to getting more people into proper housing with necessary supports is only increasing. More than what Kirton is requesting could be needed, but reverting from the new Social Income Support Program (SIS) to the previous Social Assistance Program (SAP) would be a good start.

"People's benefits were affected in the hundreds of hundreds of dollar range," he said, mentioning some clients of his were forced to use propane tanks to heat their homes during the winter without utilities hooked up.

"That's going to be a major hurdle and getting the province to go back to paying for utility statements because people's benefits were cut dramatically when the province stopped paying for it and you're seeing now with the amount of folks that are on the streets. They can't afford to make ends meet at this point."

Mercredi said "major system shifts" are needed to help the unhoused population of Saskatchewan, or else homeless numbers will only increase and put further pressure on social systems already having trouble reaching everyone.

"We had over $300,000 in claims for utility arrears in the last fiscal year, and so that's a small, that's a small percentage of the population that we're serving on income assistance," he said.

At the legislature on Tuesday, Minister of Social Services Gene Makowsky repeated many of the province's talking points on the homelessness file, including the increased investments announced in the spring budget. He wouldn't commit to any sweeping changes.

"One program in Saskatchewan, I wouldn't say, is the whole story," he said. "There are certainly many, many challenges that folks who happen to be homeless deal with."

Arcand and Kirton did agree on at least one thing Tuesday. With six months passing since the wellness centre moved from downtown to Fairhaven, neither expected the transition to be so rocky.

Arcand said he thought people in Saskatoon would understand better that there are "community problems" and more needs to be done.

Kirton said his focus was on helping homeless people and he should have understood the concerns of residents as he looks to help fill the gaps that exist in his area of the city and beyond.