Northview says crime, vandalism rampant in its N.W.T. buildings

Richard Gleeson · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 06, 2025 10:54 AM EST | Last Updated: March 6

One of the north's biggest landlords is calling for changes to landlord-tenant instrumentality successful the Northwest Territories, saying it's "drowning successful this crisis" of changeless vandalism and unit plaguing its buildings successful Yellowknife and Inuvik.

"The filth and demolition permission galore of these units wholly unlivable," said Northview Residential Reit determination director Colleen Wellborn Wednesday.

Wellborn was speaking to a committee of MLAs. Her presumption included photos of units with torn-out drywall, garbage, graffiti and damaged floors.

Wellborn said Northview has spent up to $50,000 to repair a azygous unit. She said she knows of 3 units that person required extended repairs doubly successful the aforesaid year.

"The demolition is constant. Glass is shattered wrong hours of being replaced. Fire extinguishers and hoses stolen from cabinets wrong 24 hours. Common areas are smashed and graffitied and stairwells are near littered with trash and cigaret butts."

Northview leases galore of its units to societal agencies that supply homes for radical who would different beryllium homeless, oregon supply subsidized lodging for radical connected debased incomes. Wellborn said galore of those tenants are not being provided with the supports they need.

"Our information contractor speaks to tenants regularly and has been told that often individuals are surviving connected the thoroughfare and accessing the structure 1 day, and past placed successful a portion the adjacent day," Wellborn told the MLAs. "In immoderate cases, they are fixed an aerial mattress, broad and keys and told to bask their caller accommodation."

Yellowknife MLA Shauna Morgan suggested that it whitethorn beryllium clients from the Housing First programme that Wellborn was referring to.

"I conjecture I would inquire if determination are instances brought to your attraction that idiosyncratic is being near without immoderate support, I would wonderment whether you would bring that to the attraction of your Housing First partners and say, 'Hey, there's idiosyncratic struggling here," said Morgan.

Wellborn said she's successful interaction with radical administering the programme but is not that acquainted with it.

"I don't truly cognize what the programme entails, successful presumption of I don't cognize the process of however radical are selected oregon what supports are provided," she said. "I've asked for that information, due to the fact that I'm curious, but I don't cognize if it's furniture, occupation coaching, addictions — I person nary idea."

Wellborn said transgression is rampant successful Northview buildings successful the Northwest Territories.

"Violence tin erupt astatine immoderate moment. Tenants and Northview employees routinely stumble into chaotic, high-risk situations with small to nary warning," she said.

"Drug dealing and unfastened cause usage are truthful rampant that during a regular inspection, our vice-president of operations was exposed to second-hand ace smoke."

Wellborn told MLAs the rules astir tenancy request to alteration to supply landlords with a faster mode to region tenants that are a information to the information of others.

She recommended introducing mechanisms that are successful spot successful Yukon, B.C. and Alberta, wherever landlords tin use for an exigency proceeding for tenants who are endangering life, spot oregon information systems, specified arsenic occurrence alarms.

She said nether the existent system, destructive tenants tin proceed causing harm portion Northview pursues remedies nether the Residential Tenancies Act.

"This includes waiting months for evictions to beryllium enforced, adjacent aft the rental serviceman has granted an eviction order. This leaves Northview buildings to beryllium destroyed from the wrong out."