Whitehorse approves zoning change for long-term care home

Whitehorse City councillors say they're stuck between a rock and a hard place with the government's plan to build a 300-bed continuing care facility.

Last night, councillors passed a zoning amendment for the facility, because they say they support care for seniors, but they also voiced some concerns.

Betty Irwin was the only councillor to vote against the zoning amendment. She says it doesn't make sense for the building to go in the Whistle Bend area, when the city has been prioritizing downtown development. And she says the government hasn't been upfront about the cost of the facility.

"All of this on top of the president of the Canadian Medical Association saying that home care, not institutional care, is the ideal model," Irwin says. "There are just too many questions left unanswered for me in this, that's all."

Other councillors say the government should have consulted more with the city and the public.

Jocelyn Curteanu supports the care facility because she says she won't block services for elders.

"And the rest of it... I pretty much have to trust to the people who are in charge of it who hold that responsibility, and that's the Yukon government," Curteanu says.

Dave Stockdale says council needs information sooner in order to make informed decisions.

"I'd like to slow the process up and have a little bit of input from somebody," he says. 

Stockdale says he doesn't think it's a coincidence that the project is being rushed through when there's an election coming up.