A motion to review Connective Support Society programs and facilities in Whitehorse unanimously passed in the legislature Wednesday.

Annie Blake, the NDP MLA for Vuntut Gwitchin, brought the motion forward in the House.

It read that, “This House urges the Government of Yukon to conduct a review of all programs operated in Yukon by Connective Support Society, including the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter, Housing First, and the supervised housing and reintegration program (SHARP), to determine if these programs should continue under the same operator.”

The motion comes in the aftermath of an inquest into the deaths of Josephine Elizabeth Hager, Darla Skookum, Cassandra Warville and Myranda Tizya-Charlie.

Their deaths took place in 2022 and 2023 at the much-maligned emergency shelter at 405 Alexander St.

Blake explained the reasoning behind the motion.

A year ago, she noted, Health and Social Services Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee spoke publicly about the need to gather information about the emergency shelter.

“The minister stated that the government could not enhance or improve what they did not know about,” Blake said.

“I agree with this concept, which is why we are asking for a review of all the programs offered by Connective Support Society.

“Our intent is to determine if these programs should continue under the same operator,” Blake added.

“Our goal is to ensure the safety and well-being of the people who access these programs while ensuring that quality supports are in place for those who access services.”

In bringing forth the motion, Blake brought up many “significant concerns” about Connective previously unknown to the public.

Those included “a number of fatalities at the Housing First building,” she advised the legislature.

Regarding the emergency shelter, Blake pointed out that a number of safety-related policies had been removed. They included:

• Connective scrapped a policy on bathroom checks that was specifically implemented by the Yukon government after the deaths of Cassandra Warville and Myranda Tizya-Charlie.

Blake stated, “After Connective had taken over the shelter and dropped this policy, another woman overdosed and died in a washroom in December 2023.

“She was not a part of the inquest, nor was she named. There have been additional deaths at the shelter that were also not a part of the inquest either – and we have no information about what happened to these people.”

• Connective scrapped a policy on when to call Emergency Medical Services for a person accessing services.

They also made it routine to place intoxicated clients into a wheelchair and then into a bed without calling for assistance, with limited documentation processes being followed.

• Staff have not been trained to use basic first aid techniques like the recovery position.

• Connective had initially drafted a policy for bed checks – but later scrapped this too.

• During the inquest, Connective was also unable to answer questions about its staff’s response to sexual assaults against people staying in the shelter.

• The Connective director, Chris Kinch, testified that nothing had been done to provide more training for staff.

Blake related, “The NDP hears repeatedly from people who stay at the shelter and do not feel safe. Many of those we hear from choose to sleep in tents or vehicles or on couches because they do not feel safe staying at the shelter.”

Housing First, described on the Connective website as “safe, secure housing to adults who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness,” harboured serious concerns as well.

According to Blake, “a number of individuals have died at the Housing First building under the operation of Connective.”

Blake added, “We have very little information about what happens internally or within Connective’s processes or policies in the aftermath of a death.”

Blake said there were also multiple stories of residents having to go without toilets for multiple weeks – or having no locks on their doors.

SHARP, located on the grounds of the Whitehorse Correctional Centre, is described on the Connective website as “providing safe, secure housing and wraparound supports to individuals on conditional release from federal, and territorial institutions.”

Blake said, “For SHARP, we have heard concerns from previous staff and participants as well as current participants about substance use within the facility, including the selling and distribution of substances by both staff and participants of the program.

“We hear from people — either former staff and participants or people currently part of SHARP — who feel so unsafe due to substance use and dealing at SHARP that they consider trying to get back into the Whitehorse Correctional Centre just to feel safe or to gain access to meaningful and consistent support.”

McPhee spoke to the motion at length. She seemed more concerned about the April 25 recommendations from the inquest than the proposed review of Connective.

“There are specifically eight of those recommendations — very critically important — that we learn from that process — that we learn what the thoughtful jury that was there for every moment of the testimony determined to write about — what they heard and the importance of those recommendations going forward,” she said.

McPhee pointed out some of the good outcomes of the shelter under Connective, such as:

• 159,960 meals served;

• 20,614 stays in the 54 emergency beds;

• 14,000 harm reduction items from condoms to Naloxone kits distributed; and

• 50 overdoses averted through Naloxone.

Regarding the allegation at SHARP, McPhee said she checked with the Department of Justice “to determine whether or not they had heard any of the same complaints … they had not.”

McPhee added, “I’m very concerned about the allegations.”

She summarized by saying, “I take no issue with the idea of reviewing the programs that are operated by Connective.

“In fact, there are legal implications of us not reviewing those and there is, included in the transfer payment agreements, the authority for these organizations to run these programs and the opportunity to do such evaluations and to do such reviews.”

She added, however, “It is critical, when we do reviews of these kinds of programs, that they are comprehensive, that they are complete, and that we absolutely, in this situation, have the benefit and the important information that has come from the coroner’s inquest that absolutely must be part of the review for Connective.”

NDP Leader Kate White pointed out that since Connective is getting a nearly $6 million transfer from the Department of Health and Social Services “to operate programs for some of the most vulnerable — like Yukoners — in some of the most vulnerable situations, I think that government would want to review the policies.

“I think that they would want to ensure that the Yukoners accessing those programs had the best support that they could. I would think that the minister would want to ensure that employees had the most support.”

Opposition Leader Currie Dixon also weighed in on the issue.

“Over the course of the past several weeks, Yukoners have been shocked and startled at the revelations that have come out about the operation of the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter by Connective,” he said.

“I am glad that the MLA for Vuntut Gwitchin has brought this motion forward, and we will be supporting it.”

McPhee was unavailable for comment later Wednesday because of the motion in the House.

Laura Seeley of cabinet communications said in an email to the Star, “We’re committed to a reconciliation-based approach. We understand that a number of chiefs would like to be involved in this work.

“To us, it’s not either-or: the path forward requires all of us to come together.

“As she mentioned in the House, minister McPhee is reaching out to several chiefs to understand their vision and direction on how the recommendations should be achieved,” Seeley said.

Blake said at noon Thursday, “More than anything, I hope my motion sends a clear message that it’s vital to seriously reconsider Connective’s fitness to operate in the territory at all.

“I’m very grateful to my House colleagues for their unanimous support.

“I’m very concerned that it took so many deaths to bring the Yukon Liberals to look at their working relationship with Connective.”