Yukon government won't reopen warming centre inside gov't building in downtown Whitehorse

The Yukon government said Monday it will not reopen the warming centre in the government administration building in downtown Whitehorse this winter.

Last year, the government opened the former cafeteria space in the Jim Smith building from November to April to those in need. It offered coffee and snacks, harm reduction supplies, internet access, free bus tickets, and support for accessing social programs.

The previous government said in May that nearly 5,000 visitors used the centre last year, but Yukon government press secretary Tim Kucharuk said that number is misleading.

He told CBC in an email the previous government “made no attempt to distinguish between visitors who might be in need of its services, and those who were simply taking advantage of free coffee offered at this location.”

“Ministers and cabinet staff of the former government were regular visitors to it for free coffee and were counted many times in the numbers reported by that government,” he said.

Kucharuk pointed to several other locations in Whitehorse where people can go to warm up, including, he said, the Whitehorse public library, the emergency shelter, Blood Ties Four Directions, Safe At Home Society, the Council of Yukon First Nations and Landing Pad emergency youth shelter.

Whitehorse emergency shelter users say the government should be adding warm spaces in the city, not taking them away.

“There's a lot of people out there on the streets that I see that need to get warm,” said Jackie Bear.

Bear uses the emergency shelter to eat and get warm. She says she didn’t know about the warming centre in the Jim Smith building, but she would have used it if she had. Bear said with the cold temperatures recently, the shelter has been packed. 

“It was like 30 below the other day and there's people filled in the porch. There was no room in here at the shelter. And it's unsoothing to see that, it's heartbreaking to me.”

Louis Blake said he would also like to see more warm spaces in the city.

“It’s nice to have places where you could go and sit, be warm instead of wandering around cold.”

Bear agreed, adding that the government should be doing more to provide those spaces.

“Get it together. We’re sitting on the streets and I see a lot of these people dying on us.”