Shawn Fraser, CEO of John Howard Society Saskatchewan speaks to city council on Monday night. (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

By Alison Sandstrom

Neighbourhood concerns

Council denies permit for proposed East Hill care home

Mar 16, 2021 | 5:09 PM

Prince Albert city council has quashed plans for a new care home near Kinsmen park after neighbours raised concerns the facility would make the area less safe.

The John Howard Society had hoped to operate the supported housing complex in partnership with Riverbank Development Corporation. It would have housed five participants in a larger program for young men at-risk of contact with the criminal justice system in Prince Albert. The program has a specific focus on preventing gang involvement and provides cultural supports, work skill training and educational components, including land-based learning. The proposal for the home included one to two staff on-site at all times.

After delaying a vote on the matter to allow for an online meeting between the John Howard Society and residents, council voted 5-4 to deny the home’s development permit on Monday night.

A positive for the city

Coun. Dennis Ogrodnick was among those who voiced support for the home.

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“We as council hear all the time that we have problems with crime, we have gangs, all of these situations that are present in the city,” he told the meeting. “We have to do something about it. We have an organization, the John Howard Society that wants to do something about it.”

Ogrodnick argued it would be better to have vulnerable youth living in a supportive, supervised facility than renting an apartment themselves, something he said could very well happen “if we don’t approve this.”

The proposed location of the care home beside Kinsmen Park is shown in red. (Council Agenda Package/City of P.A.)

Coun. Charlene Miller also spoke in favour of approving the permit.

“For me, I would like to be a part of the solution in helping these young men get educated, get better, get healthier for our community, so we can live and thrive in it together,” she said.

Opposition from neighbors

Meanwhile mayor Greg Dionne said after speaking with neighbours he wouldn’t support the project.

“At the end of the day, I believe we have to listen to the residents. That’s who elected us, that’s who put us in here to make the decisions for them,” he said.

Dionne said he supported the John Howard Society and Riverbank Development Corporation but he “[couldn’t] let that weigh on [his] heart.”

“I have to make the right decision and the majority of people in the neighborhood do not want the house there,” he said.

Coun. Don Cody echoed Dionne’s comments saying the organizations behind the proposed home did great work, but that didn’t outweigh residents’ concerns.

“Sure, we’re going to try to rehabilitate five people [living in the home],” he said. “But what are we doing at the expense of the others that are around them?”

The deciding vote on the matter came down to the councillor representing the ward where the care home was to be located.

“I came here today trying to find a way to say yes,” Coun. Ted Zurakowski said, before outlining various reasons he would ultimately vote against the care home.

He said if the consultative process had been longer and more involved, “I think we could have assisted them [the John Howard Society] in being successful.”

“I think asking people to become involved in a very short period of time, people become wary of what they don’t know,” he said.

Later in the meeting, Zurakowski made a separate motion to review the communication process for similar projects.

Zurakowski closed his remarks by referencing a young mother who lived next door to the proposed home. He explained she was fearful people with criminal records or a history of sex offences might end up living there and the city had been unable to assuage her concerns.

“That young mother with three kids, I think she has to have a voice as well, I think we have a responsibility to amplify her voice,” he said.

Council vote 5-4 to deny the proposed care home’s development permit. Dissenting votes came from Dionne, Cody, Zurakowski, Tony Head and Blake Edwards. Those in favour of granting the permit were Ogrodnick, Miller, Terra Lennox-Zepp and Dawn Kilmer.

John Howard Society reacts to decision

For his part Shawn Fraser, CEO of the John Howard Society of Saskatchewan, said he respected city council’s decision.

“They have a hard job, they have a lot of interests to balance,” he said. “It’s unfortunate. From our perspective, we saw this as something positive for the neighborhood… but that’s how it goes sometimes.”

Fraser noted that the broader program that youth living at the home would have been a part of is still set to go ahead in P.A.

“The good news is this project is set to launch, we’ve hired four people in Prince Albert, we’re about to hire another four. We’ll be taking young men into the program starting in the next few weeks,” he said.

As for the supervised living aspect of the program, Fraser said that’s been “set back” by council’s decision, but the organization will regroup and consider looking for another location.

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom