Emergency council meeting Friday to settle fate of Fort Simpson warming centre

The fate of Fort Simpson's warming centre is set to be decided in an emergency meeting of village council Friday. This comes after the owners of the building that houses the centre posted a notice on Facebook stating that they plan to evict the shelter.

The warming centre has been operating out of the Unity building since December 2020.

About 27 people use its services on a part-time basis and nine use it daily, according to Rosa Wright, who manages the day-to-day operations alongside several part-time employees and volunteers.

Muaz Hassan, co-owner of the Unity building, posted the one-week eviction notice on his Facebook page on Wednesday. According to Mayor Sean Whelly, that came one day after village council held a special meeting where it voted to deny Hassan's request for a rent increase, retroactive to October 2021. 

That vote was made in camera, and the reason for the decision has not been made public yet, but Whelly said councillors had questions about the timing of the request, and the request for back payment.

Monthly costs exceed payment

In the Facebook post Hussan said the $3,200 per month council is paying in rent does not cover the operating costs. According to Raj Hundal, Hussan's business partner, when fuel and power are included, costs are well over $5,000 a month. The overages are now paid by Hundal and Hussan's business, Unity Ltd. 

Hassan and Hundal said they've also received help from the community. For example, Hundal noted that costs to run the building last year were significantly lower due to a $7,000 donation from Rowe's Construction.

"Now we are expected to pay the fuel from the $3200, which actually in the winter months … doesn't even cover the fuel," Hundal said.

During a village council meeting on Sept. 13, 2021, SAO Kevin Corrigan noted that the NWT Housing Corporation contributed at least $144,000 to the operation of the shelter from January through March, 2021. According to Corrigan, most of that went to cover staffing costs, plus a 10 per cent village administration fee. In that same council meeting, Corrigan said the housing corporation had committed another $200,000 for this fiscal year.

On Thursday Whelly said he's seen the breakdown of costs for the shelter, and he wants to see it continue to operate at the Unity building. He said there's $40,000 left over from last year's budget that the Housing Corporation said could be rolled over into this year to help cover the extra rental costs.

"Based on what I know, I feel as though the the increase is reasonable in terms of what the actual costs are," Whelly said. 

Fort Simpson Village council is scheduled to meet at noon Friday to reconsider the request for increased rent and back payment.