Yellowknife city council debates employment program for homeless

Homeless people in Yellowknife may soon be able to find regular employment helping keep the city clean.

On Monday, city council debated how to use $50,000 set aside in the 2017 budget for a new Homelessness Employment Program.

Most councilors said they supported a plan that would see a local service provider hirehomeless people to pick up garbage or clear snow and ice from walkways.

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"For people who are struggling and perhaps not prepared at this time to hold down long-term employment or jobs, this is one thing they can do," said coun. Shauna Morgan.

In a memo to council, city staff expressed some concern that homeless people would use the money they earned to fuel addictions.

Morgan rejected this idea.

"Even if people use that money for whatever purposes they want, that [is] still up to them and I think it [is] valuable to allow people to have the experience [of making] a wage that they can use how they want," she said.

"Being able to support yourself in some way and [having] some degree of independence is valuable in and of itself."

Other options

Council considered other ways of spending the $50,000.

One idea was to supplement existing programs that teach skills like resume writing and First Aid. Another idea suggested subsidizing wages for existing employment programs like the CMHC Youth Internship program.

The fourth idea was to develop an on-the-land employment program.

Coun. Linda Bussey supported the on-the-land option, calling it "an incredible opportunity for partnership."

She said when she was executive director of a treatment program in Nunavut, the on-the-land component was very successful. Although she admitted $50,000 would not go very far for this type of program.

The plan is to launch the program in May or June, with a requestfor proposal going out as early as April.

Council will vote on what program model to use next Monday.