Saskatoon mayoral candidates agree major changes needed at Lighthouse

While Charlie Clark, Rob Norris and Don Atchison may not agree on much, they are all in favour of changes being made at the Lighthouse, a supported living and homeless shelter in downtown Saskatoon.

For months, business groups have been complaining about safety downtown and the need for the province to review the program's location.

Eight business groups signed a letter to the Saskatoon Board of Police Commissioners in June, calling for resources to address concerns about safety downtown.

In March, the Downtown Saskatoon Business Improvement District drafted a more pointed news release, calling for the province to address safety and security concerns around the Lighthouse itself. 

It also called for the province to undertake a study of the Lighthouse's "programming, funding and location."

"I've talked to families and parents no longer allow their kids to go downtown," said mayoral challenger Rob Norris.

"Certainly what I don't want to do is blame all of that on the Lighthouse.  But I want to do is say, are there some other programming options? The status quo is not working."

Growing controversy

The Lighthouse has been a fixture in downtown Saskatoon since 1997, when the former Capri Motor Hotel was donated to a non-profit group. While initially the building was designed to be a hostel and house low-income seniors, eventually the group's mandate changed to provide supported housing for people who needed help.

Since then, the building has expanded greatly, adding more supported housing units, a classroom, kitchen and an overnight shelter unit.

As the building has expanded, controversy has also grown.

Last year, incumbent Mayor Charlie Clark formed a panel at the Lighthouse made up of 70 representatives from the business community, the police, the tribal council and other community agencies.

He said the group asked the city to both help the people who need assistance and keep the downtown safe at the same time.

"The current model is failing on both of those fronts," Clark said.

"So, that led to the initiation of some further conversations about what kind of partnerships could be formed to develop a new model and then to talk about what options would there be for the relocation of some of those services."

Clark said that before the meeting, the conversation felt extremely polarized, where citizens had to choose whether they were on the side of the Lighthouse or the business community.

"When we pulled those 70 people together a year ago, we said, 'This is not about poor people versus the business community. This is about how we build a better system of care and better safety in the downtown.'" 

Clark said he would like to see at least some of the services moved out of The Lighthouse and see the system revamped before next summer.

"The challenge is coming up with a second location and coming up with the right shelter model," he said.

"If you close some of what's going on at the Lighthouse, if we don't have a solid plan for for an improved shelter model, then the people will have to fend for themselves."

New solutions

Meanwhile, former mayor and current candidate Don Atchison said he wants the Lighthouse to move out of downtown.

"I was involved with the Lighthouse right from the very beginning," he said. 

"And what it is today is not what we believed it was going to be."

Atchison said crowds of people who gather outside the building are a problem. He said a 24-hour facility would improve the situation.

"You see them sleeping on the streets," he said. 

"They're sitting out there during the daytime. And I think that there's so much more that we need to be able to do."

Mayoral candidate Rob Norris said that, if elected, he would look at other successful social organizations across the country when designing a new shelter system for the city.

"In Edmonton, there's a residence-based training centre for women called Women Building Futures," he said. 

"There's really, really good work being done there. I came across it as I was a minister and I've been keeping my eye on it for several years."

Norris said that in his first 100 days in office he would convene a 'blue ribbon panel' of experts to look at reforming the services provided by the Lighthouse.

"There is no universal opinion on this," he said. 

"We really need a better model of care, support and programming, especially for those who are the most vulnerable in our community."

Norris said that it's vital that the provincial government be brought into these discussions, as they remain a major funder of the program.

"I think the first the power of the mayor is the power of persuasion," he said.

"Charlie Clark missed opportunities to use the power of persuasion to actually lay out a blueprint and and invite the province and the federal government and other new partners to the table to help address this."

Complex issues

Meanwhile, the Lighthouse said it is dealing with complex issues and that there are no easy solutions.

Communications manager Anna Pacik said there has been a perfect storm this year between COVID-19 and a growing drug and mental health issue in the city.

"We have folks that have been allegedly receiving CERB funding, and that has provided a lot of money on the streets," Pacik said. 

"We're seeing that translated into the overdoses that we're seeing in town and we're seeing it translated into the groups of people we're seeing outside here."

Pacik said the people who congregate outside the Lighthouse are generally not the people living in the facility, and often victimize and target their clients.

She said it's a common misconception that those people have been denied entrance to the shelter.

"If it looks like we are asking people to leave the building, that would be really negligent of us, especially during COVID," she said.

"We've been doing our best to keep our people inside and safe and away from potentially contracting COVID, as our folks are very vulnerable." 

Pacik has said that the Lighthouse is not opposed to moving some parts of its operations and is always open to suggestions.

She said the organization wants to maintain good working relationships with the city.

"It is in our best interest to work with the city," she said.

"We're here because the city has a need."