Graffiti appears outside proposed Yellowknife shelter location ahead of city vote

Graffiti appeared on the sidewalk outside 4709 Franklin Ave. in Yellowknife, ahead of a special city council meeting Monday night to decide whether a temporary day shelter can be established at that location.

The nine messages, scrawled in white, repeated the phrase "white people scare me" and included variations on the question "where do people sleep at night when it's –50 outside?" They were written on both street-facing sides of the building, on Franklin Avenue and 48 Street. 

The messages reach as far as the sidewalk in front of the neighbouring buildings on either side of the proposed location, which are home to a number of businesses that have publicly expressed opposition to the territorial government's intent to turn it into a temporary day shelter until Oct. 31, 2024. 

Zoe Guile, a member of the Concerned Yellowknife Residents for a Day Shelter Downtown Facebook group, told CBC News she has no idea who wrote the messages, and that she wasn't surprised by them either. 

"I think there's been a lot of ignorant and racist discourse coming from people who, I would say, are [for the] majority, white," she said. "I also wouldn't blame anyone for having that reaction to everything that's going on, surrounding the day shelter and shelters in general in Yellowknife."

Guile, who described herself as a white settler, said it's not her place to judge someone for writing the messages. 

She suspects, however, that they come from someone frustrated by ongoing discussions surrounding people who "deserve safety." 

'A slap in the face'

Julie Thrasher, an advocate for people who are homeless and a former shelter worker in both Yellowknife and Inuvik, said the messages are "distressing" and, despite their seeming pro-shelter message, she believes them to be written by someone who doesn't support the shelter.

"It's not a reflection of homeless people, it's not a reflection of the N.W.T. people who have always stepped up and opened their doors to those in need," Thrasher said. "That's not the way we were raised." 

Thrasher said one of the messages is racist, and she believes the graffiti was made to look like they were written by someone who was homeless. 

"It was a poor job, that's what I'm going to say," she said, noting how clearly they were written.

"It's a slap in the face to the homeless people who have been trying to speak out against the opposition, and it's also a slap in the face to the people who have been working so hard to bring this community together." 

Thrasher said the messages will be washed away, but any hurt they might cause will remain in peoples' hearts and minds. 

It's her hope that people will step over them, just as they would any other graffiti on a sidewalk. 

"They're going to walk over it and continue to step forward and help these homeless individuals and help the organizations that are working towards a healthy community."