Fairmont Baptist Church Minister Robert Pearce (Lara Fominoff/650 CKOM)

By Lara Fominoff, CKOM News Staff

Fairhaven residents expressing safety concerns since opening of Emergency Wellness centre

Jan 23, 2023 | 9:58 AM

Robert Pearce is the pastor of the Fairmont Baptist Church, and a longtime resident of the Fairhaven area on Saskatoon’s west side.

During the past 20 years, he’s seen a variety of people come and go, businesses change, and the evolution of the local community.

Over the last several weeks, he said some of the changes he and many other residents have noticed have become a grave concern.

“The area is actually a little gem that people I don’t think relate to being west side,” he said. “We’re not perfect. We’ve certainly had our issues here and there. I know as a church, we probably had one or two minor incidents a year where someone might tag our Sea Can (storage container) or have garbage dumped by our garbage bin.”

Pearce said since the Emergency Wellness Centre relocated from its former downtown facility on First Avenue North in December, the number of mischief- and vandalism-related incidents on church property have increased.

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“We have had four incidents of people dumping garbage by our garbage bin or leaving shopping carts,” he said, noting they were relatively minor issues — but other interactions caused him to worry.

“I came one day to find someone urinating right against the church and by our front entrance … Another church member came and someone had defecated under our wheelchair ramp. And there was three big piles of feces — evident human feces — under our wheelchair ramp.”

That, he said, was a major health issue. A decision was soon made to keep the doors to the church locked, even when others were inside. Days later, Pearce said there was a frightening situation during a youth event.

“This gentleman was high. He was trying to break in, demanding we help him,” Pearce said. “There was only a couple of parents and about 12 youth here. (The man) wasn’t allowed to come in, and so he vandalized our sign out front. I had to take it down.”

David Wensley, another longtime Fairhaven resident, also recalled some disturbing incidents. A few years ago, he bought and moved into his father’s home near a neighbourhood 7-Eleven and city bus shelter.

That’s where he helped save a man’s life on Dec. 20.

He and his wife were coming home from Christmas shopping when they noticed a man at the bus stop who needed help.

“The people who were there didn’t care about him. They were just going through his stuff. A fellow that was there was pulling him up by his ankles onto the sidewalk. I said, ‘I know first aid. Can I help?’ I took his pulse. There was no pulse. Then I started doing chest compressions,” Wensley described.

Another person at the scene administered nasal Narcan just before first responders and police arrived.

“They said, ‘Oh, he’s got a pulse now,’ and it was so cold that morning, you could see his moisture coming out of his mouth,” Wensley said. “You could see he was starting to breathe.”

That occasion and several others lead Wensley to question why the wellness centre was opened in the residential area. He wondered why the community didn’t have any input prior to its opening.

“(On) Nov. 2, we were told it was being put into our neighbourhood. We’re all really disappointed. It affects our whole community,” said Wensley.

He said he has not only spoken with most of his neighbours, but also had discussions with Saskatoon West MP Brad Redekopp, Mayor Charlie Clark’s office, Saskatoon fire inspectors and others.

“They’ve listened to my concerns,” Wensley said. “(They were) good discussions.”

However, he said at times he doesn’t feel safe anymore.

“The bus shelters aren’t safe. There’s people there using them as injection sites. You go to 7-Eleven and it’s so sketchy there, you don’t feel safe going in there,” he described, pointing out large piles of garbage emptied from two dumpsters, several piles of human waste, and burned items behind the store.

Pearce said he also has met with Saskatoon Riversdale MLA Marv Freisen.

“I said, ‘At what point did you know about this?’ And he informed me that it was pretty much the same day that everybody else was informed,” Pearce said.

Pearce added he understood the majority of those who came to the neighbourhood just wanted help and a safe place to stay.

“I’m happy that there is a space for them. But as a resident of this community, we were never informed this was coming. It was literally one day we woke up and this was coming,” he said. “I think a lot of people were shocked.”

He said reaching out to the Saskatoon Tribal Council and Chief Mark Arcand was unsuccessful.

“Silence. No reply even saying, ‘We’re still trying to figure it out. Can we get back to you?’ There was no engagement. And then they announced they were doing an open house,” Pearce said.

During one of four open houses late last year, Pearce noted the number of resources, information, programs and partners displayed at the wellness centre.

“At the end of the day, my wife said, ‘If it’s managed as well as they say it’s going to be, we’ll have a few more issues … but it should be fine.’ That’s not what we’re seeing,” he said.

Pearce doesn’t necessarily want to see the emergency wellness centre close, but he feels area residents shouldn’t be disproportionately affected.

“Nobody is thinking about how this affects everybody else. The rest of the city is thinking ‘Whew, (I’m) glad it’s not in my backyard,’ ” he said.

He also questioned the timing of the shelter opening.

“To me, this happened so quickly that either there was a lot of planning beforehand and nobody shared with us, or it happened so quickly that procedures and protocols were not followed,” Pearce said. “I have to believe somebody should have done a study that says how is this going to impact this community economically, socially, right?

“That to me is just a due diligence any reasonable person should expect from their elected officials, from the government.”

The pastor also said there needed to be a lot more investment, not just in those who are using the shelter, but community support as well. It could include things like a citizen’s patrol, more Alternative Response Officers, a satellite Saskatoon police station near the 7-Eleven, in addition to housing, addictions and mental health resources for those who are seeking help at the wellness centre.

Peaceful community activism, Pearce added, was at the top of the list.

“I do know that people who are doing things they shouldn’t be doing are being watched, and they know they’re being watched,” he said. “That’s not comfortable.

“If you’re not here to be helped, if you’re here to cause havoc, you’re not welcome here.”

CKOM has reached out to the Saskatoon Tribal Council and requested an interview with Arcand. As of publication time, he was not available for comment, because of prior commitments.

During a previous interview, Arcand said four open houses were held in late November to address community concerns and to ask questions.

“We wanted to be respectful. We wanted to hear the concerns. We acknowledge those concerns. But let’s be honest, I’m not worried about those anymore. They had a chance to voice their opinion,” he said.

Ward 3 councillor and Saskatoon Police Service respond

Just as there was an increase in the number of police calls for service on First Avenue North, there have been an increase in calls over the last few weeks in the Fairhaven area, said Ward 3 Coun. David Kirton.

That was also confirmed by Saskatoon police.

Kirton said lives are being saved at the Emergency Wellness Centre and the work being done there to help people is remarkable. But one stumbling block could be communication.

“There hasn’t been a real way in which we can communicate in a co-ordinated way,” he said.

Kirton is hoping to establish a working group made up of representatives from the city, fire department, STC, and area residents to keep conversations open. He hopes to have it established in the next couple of weeks.

“People don’t even know for instance that fire inspectors … they have been out making regular sweeps, multiple times a day through the neighbourhood looking for an individual that they may be able to help or place in a shelter,” he explained.

Kirton said he’s hearing more concern about criminal activity, dumpster diving, and issues with garbage.

“There’s a concern about safety in the neighbourhood and that’s all I care about,” he said, adding he doesn’t want to compare this year to last or whether it’s because the wellness centre is in the neighbourhood.

“It’s not my intention to point fingers. I’m only concerned about safety and the perception of safety in Fairhaven, and that’s what I want to work on.”

Saskatoon Police Service Chief Troy Cooper said police are assessing community needs based on the introduction of the wellness centre which he anticipates changing as the year goes on.

“Most of the calls that we’ve had to the neighbourhood have been to our partners at the centre,” said Cooper. “The community itself, we haven’t seen an increase in reported offending at this point, but it’s something … that’s going to have to take months of assessment.”

Week-to-week statistics aren’t available at this point. Cooper does expect a change in foot traffic to the area, and patterns of movement with the centre’s opening.

“Our job, I think, is to mitigate any kind of negative impact that might have. I would like the community to know we’re hearing what their concerns are and that our obligation is to best assess what best can occur and to implement that,” he said.

Wellness centre resident speaks

Wellness centre resident Larry Ford is one of the newcomers to the area.

Wearing several layers of heavy clothing and big black boots and carrying a plastic bag, he waited for a bus on Pendygrasse Road, after leaving the wellness centre last Wednesday morning.

“I’m looking for an apartment,” he said as he described how he’d been living at the facility for the last month.

“I get along with everybody there. I know a lot of people there.”

He said so far he hadn’t felt unsafe in the area, but admitted perhaps he was someone who might make others nervous.

“I go at the right times of the day now and get back early. At eight o’clock,” he said. “I don’t worry about the drunks. They’re cool. But the guys on meth, don’t trust them one inch. You don’t know what they’re going to do.”

When asked what he thought people should know about him and others staying at the centre, he said anyone’s circumstances can change.

“You’re living in a $400,000 house and you feel very satisfied with that,” Ford said. “What’s going to happen if something goes wrong with your place? Where will you go? It can happen to anybody.”