Yukon premier decries 'ridiculous' uptick in Whitehorse crime, announces new money for RCMP, other measures

The Yukon government says it is taking steps to improve safety in downtown Whitehorse following a recent uptick in property crime rates.   

Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai and Justice Minister Tracy Anne-McPhee announced several new measures intended to address the issue, at a news conference on Tuesday. 

"This has to stop, collectively… We have people stealing bikes at Whitehorse Elementary [School] at three o'clock in the afternoon — this is ridiculous," Pillai said.   

Yukon RCMP said last month that property crimes were on the rise in Whitehorse, targeting both businesses and private property owners.

The territorial government's response includes a new crime prevention grant program meant to bolster security infrastructure, particularly for local businesses. 

"We want to enable folks to be able to pursue measures like security assessment-related training, purchase and installation of security equipment, and improved immediate response and security infrastructure," the premier said. 

The government says details of the grant program will come later this fall, and the funding has yet to be approved in the legislature.  

Harm-reduction initiatives were also announced on Tuesday, including the return of the warming shelter at the legislative assembly building this winter, and the implementation of a new supportive housing program at the Yukon Housing Corporation's building at 408 Alexander Street, across from the downtown emergency shelter at 405 Alexander Street.  

Pillai said the intent of the new supportive housing program is to help "vulnerable, unhoused Yukoners who require wraparound services."

He said the program will include around-the-clock support and supervision, and guest management to keep predators and unwanted visitors away. It will be operated by the non-profit Safe at Home Society. 

Pillai also announced permanent, ongoing funding for two additional members of the Whitehorse RCMP detachment. He said that will help police crack down on the illicit drug trade.

"What's happening right now is absolutely unacceptable…" said Pillai. "A small group of individuals [that] are causing a tremendous amount of problems for everybody. 

"I think the RCMP needs the support."

The justice minister said the city is still dealing with a substance-use emergency. 

"For many Whitehorse residents, even those who do not use substances, the harms of substance use are becoming a daily experience," said McPhee.  

Pillai went on to suggest more punitive measures need to be taken to reduce harm to the community as a whole. 

"While people who use substances are the victims of a disease, that does not give them free reign to cause harm," he said. 

"Any individual, whether they are dealing with an addiction, or for any other reason, that are consistently committing acts of crime, have to pay for that behaviour… And if that means incarceration, it's incarceration."  

Don't criminalize poverty, housing advocate says

Kate Mechan, executive director of the Safe at Home Society, believes accountability is important but is sceptical of the efficacy of more punitive measures on people engaging in survival strategies like drug-trafficking, substance abuse or sex- trade work.

"If there's no net there, in terms of their access to income, in terms of housing, in terms of health care, a punitive-heavy hand is not going to make a difference," she said. 

"We need to be really, really cautious that our responses aren't about keeping people trapped in cycles of poverty, keeping people trapped in cycles of homelessness, creating more division within our community."  

Mechan also warns of the possibility of further marginalizing at-risk communities. 

"A lot of the discourse around community safety has the unintended consequence that we criminalize poverty. We criminalize people experiencing homelessness, people experiencing violence, or people who use substances... when it's not a fact that those [people] are continually the perpetrators," she said. 

The issue of downtown safety and crime is to be a major focus when the Yukon legislature reconvenes next week. Both oppositions parties have called on the government to do more to address the issue.