Seniors' centre in Fort Good Hope, N.W.T., still empty years after official opening

The Government of the Northwest Territories is planning on adding new seniors' housing in five communities across the territory by next year — but in Fort Good Hope, a brand new seniors complex still sits empty, and the people slated to move in aren't even sure they want to.  

The promised facilities are part of a commitment by the 19th Legislative Assembly to allow more seniors to age in their own communities, among friends and family. 

In December, Housing NWT said in a news release that duplexes for seniors in Fort McPherson, Fort Simpson, Fort Resolution, Tulita and Behchokǫ̀ were expected to open in March 2024.

But those announcements rang hollow to elders in Fort Good Hope who have been waiting 27 months since the official opening of a nine-unit facility there, with no seniors ever invited in. 

To John Cotchilly, one of the seniors billed to take residence, the continued delays are making him wonder what's going on. 

"When they work on something, they finish it and then another thing goes wrong. And then they fix that one, and then there's another thing that goes wrong. There's something fishy going on with that building," he said. 

Cotchilly, 86, said right now his 50-year-old son lives with him in the community's five-plex. If Cotchilly was to move out of that unit, he said his son would have to pay nearly $2,000 in rent, an unaffordable price compared to the $70 per month he pays now.  

"If they want to move me, they could move me, but I'm worried about him though," Cotchilly said.

CBC News was unable to confirm the exact changes to the five-plex's rent scale or whether the increase related to a cost designated for seniors. Cotchilly wasn't the only senior to express concern over the raising of rent prices and how that would impact young people moving in — though various sources provided differing rental costs.

Ernest Cotchilly, John's brother, is also among the seniors waiting to move into the new nine-plex. Ernest said he's ready to move from where he now lives in the five-plex, since he finds his neighbours loud. 

"Throwing parties, every day and night," he said. 

But Ernest, 84, still wants to see the new facility before he moves in. 

"I want to see that everything is safe," he said. 

The last time Ernest saw the building, he said there was only one door by the kitchen and no escape for anyone in the bedroom or living room if a fire was to break out  — something Ernest has had experience with in the past.

"I don't know what the fire marshal said. They stopped everything and took it apart again," he said, referring to a pre-occupancy inspection the office of the fire marshal conducted in 2021 — after the February opening. 

In June 2021, a spokesperson for Housing NWT said that inspection identified issues with fire protection, signage and exits. The spokesperson said at the time that seniors would move in by the end of that summer. 

In the 2021 fall session of the N.W.T. Legislative Assembly, Housing Minister Paulie Chinna said the seniors' centre was on track to open in March 2022. In October of that year, she said Housing was "aiming for April 2023."

April has now passed and still no seniors have taken residence.

In March, Housing NWT told CBC News that construction would still be completed by April, but occupancy could be delayed until June while various inspections are done and a caretaker is hired to live in one of the units.

At the end of April, Housing NWT spokesperson Jeanne Yurris said the contractor was still finalizing construction, and Rose McNeely, chair of the Rádeyı̨lı̨kóé Housing Association which is responsible for co-ordinating tenants, confirmed that a caretaker still hadn't been hired.

'Too many rules'

Despite the government's assurance that the facility will enable Fort Good Hope seniors to age in place with dignity, some Fort Good Hope seniors worry that moving into the new facility means giving up their independence. 

Some are reluctant to move away from homes with their families and worry about forfeiting cultural practices. 

"Too many rules," said Monique Cotchilly, John and Ernest's sister-in-law.

"You can't have your kids with you, you can't work a moose hide in there — no good."

Joe Orlias, 84, said he plans to refuse to move to the new facility. 

Speaking through a community member who translated, Orlias said he likes his current place. He likes living across from the store where he can see people coming and going, he likes his woodstove, and he likes looking after himself and being able to hunt and go on the land whenever he wants. 

Orlias said he doesn't need to be under the care of a caretaker, pointing out that he won a Ski-Doo race in Colville Lake in April.

Yurris, the Housing NWT spokesperson, said in an email to CBC News that the facility's caretaker will be responsible for security and arranging minor maintenance. She said it's not an assisted living facility and that visitation policy, curfew, and restrictions on tenants are subject to regular public housing policies. 

Angela Grandjambe, manager of the Rádeyı̨lı̨kóé Housing Association, said that in some cases elders' worries are based on rumours. 

"We'll talk to them before [they move in] and put their mind at ease," she said. 

Yurris said that when the project was initiated in 2013, Housing NWT's design team and the Sahtu district director met with the community to talk about the building's initial design.  

As part of that meeting, she said elders said they wanted a teepee and a shed to store equipment. Yurris said Housing NWT explained at the time that once everyone settled into the new facility, they could determine how best to incorporate those ideas. 

Yurris also said some of the seniors now expecting to move in may not have been involved in those discussions or aware that they happened, since that was 10 years ago. 

She said Housing NWT still plans to reach out to seniors and community organizations to learn more about their concerns and wants, and to develop a plan to address them.

'We have no say'

Once the elders do move into the nine-plex, their current housing will become vacant for other community members to move into. 

"That would be good for them," Ernest said. "Most of them don't have any place to stay. They just stay with their parents or their friends."

Grandjambe said some people in the community have been on a housing waitlist for years. 

"Our waiting list is long with young people waiting to move in," she said. 

John, Ernest and Monique, along with at least one other senior who did not agree to a formal interview, currently live in a five-plex near the band office. 

With the exception of Ernest, whose house burned down, the others want to move back into their former homes, vacant because of mold, broken doors and windows, and a lack of power. Those homes are waiting on repairs from the territory, according to the seniors. 

"I wanted them to repair it, but they never did nothing," John said.

"They said they were going to send the materials," Monique said. "It's too moldy. I keep getting after them and they wouldn't even do anything about it."

Grandjambe said that seniors threatening to stay put or refusing to move into the new nine-plex don't actually have that choice. 

"They have to go because it's not their units," she said, referring to Housing NWT's ownership. "We have no say."

Questions linger with lawsuit

The territory initially budgeted the nine-plex at $3.5 million but the actual cost is higher. 

Yurris said the additional costs are the subject of an active lawsuit and couldn't say how much more taxpayers have put into the facility. 

Housing NWT also did not respond to questions about the nature of the lawsuit, and who's involved. The agency said only that it couldn't comment. CBC was not able to obtain court documents on the matter.

Meantime, the seniors' duplexes set to open next year in five other communities are budgeted at $8.7 million, Yurris said. The delivery and final set-up for those units is targeted for March 2024. 

Asked if the territory has learned any lessons from the delays in Fort Good Hope, Yurris said the nine-plex in that community and the promised duplexes elsewhere are "quite different ... [in] scale, complexity and method of delivery."

"However," she said, "Housing NWT works under a model of continuous improvement and incorporates lessons learned from all projects into future project planning."