Thank-you N.F.C. for having the courage to take on this project. I have had several dealings with this society and have only favourable comments to make regarding their programs and abilities to manage them. I hope that the Provincial government will have the common sense enough to allow these people (who know what they are doing) to opporate the shelter in a manner that will help people. Given the Provinces previous, dubious record I can only wish the N.F.C. the best of luck and thanks again for tackling a problem that is well overdue.

Why are they even doing a community consultation ? It would appear that this is going ahead no matter what the community wants. The locals had already said they did not want such a facility in that location, where promised that during the consultation they could potentially stop the project yet NFC already has a architect working on the design.
I have nothing wrong against NFC but the location of this facility is less than ideal to say the least.

It has been a motel for years, which means there has been a transient residential population for years with all its attendant coming and going. How will operating housing units change that? Why is it OK as a motel and not OK as housing?

It hasn't been a motel for years, maybe years ago it was. Big difference in the clientele as well.

Clientele being the key word?

Very well, when it was open the comments apply. So the same comments and questions: and why would the clientele now be a problem? When it was operating it wasn't the most upscale establishment, was it?

They say it will be operated by the staff of the Society, Northern Health will be involved, all the players have come to the table to do this project.

Maybe they have a chance of making it work ? With all the involvement of health workers and social workers, etc. it has a better chance of working out than just being a motel or residence.

I have said before that I don't like the location for drug addicted clients, I just think it is so close to "the scene" that it is going to present problems.

However, let's give them a chance. Maybe they can make it work out. It sounds like a lot of people from a lot of different agencies have a stake in this and have put a lot of work into it. I wish them well, and hope that it goes good for them.

It's a far cry from the usual half-baked cockamamie plans that we're used to seeing from the gov't.

As long as it doesn't turn into a drop in centre for hookers and drug dealers then I think it might be a good thing for the community.

I suspect that the Native Friendship centre will decide who can and who cannot **drop in** This will not be decided by anyone on this site.

It appears that they will go ahead with the project, and we will see the results a number of years down the road.

Can Murray Krause sit on council while this property is being discussed in council?

Looks like the downtown disease is oozing out toward South Fort George. Surrounding land value should start dropping and building getting shabbier. Prime locale for crack shack development.

I would be worried about this becoming a strictly native facility.
After all,not all those who will want to use it will be native.
Does that mean those that ARE native will get first shot at the rooms?
Guess time will tell.
This plan scares the hell out of me.
I think it is a foregone conclusion as to what it will become if it is not managed properly and fairly.
I still think this is a BIG mistake, and I feel sorry for property owners in the area.
No question that these people need something, but the proximity to the downtown core could be a serious mistake.
It really doesn't make sense.
And the question of Murray Krause sitting on council during these discussions is a valid one.
I would hope he will excuse himself from any involvement.

build a cold beer and wine store next door to them too .... give it all to them .... time they stop soaking the system. buck up and look for work

well at least it isnt going to be another hotel where you can rent a room by the hour with a hooker again. Maybe a Brothel House though !! I know that they are trying to make a difference in peoples lives, but now with a gas station across from it, there will be lots of panhandling there in that parking lot so the business will loose customers. Anyways time will only tell if the crime goes up in a neighborhood, already on the verge, with organized crime, prostitution, etc, Why not buy an old building in the downtown core, and have a huge drop in center there with common living on the main floor and then rooms upstairs for people to live, that way they would be closer to the medical services, and other needs for them.

Still not addressing the problem! DUMB!
The biggest problem is the drugs!
We are not doing enough to stop the trade in illegal drugs!
Taxpayer dollars are being wasted (and don't get me started on the native indian issues) The resources are being used to create means of coping with the problem, and not towards stopping that which has created the problem!
It is like if you had a problem willow tree growing in your yard and instead of digging up the roots completely and destroying them so that the tree does not keep growing up all over the yard from the root structure, you just keep trimming the branches off, or maybe even constructing a shelter to protect the branches from the weather. Of course you would have to staff that shelter, and have a management team in place to make certain the funds are being utilized correctly, to ensure that the branches have everything they need, so that they do not have to fend for themselves. God forbid they should have to live and grow on their own resources, like the millions of other trees out there in the big bad forest. Whatever the colour of their bark. What happened to equality?
The solution to the problem is simple. Illegal drug dealing should be punishable by death. That may seem harsh, but if death was the consequence, would not even the dumbest of the slimy criminal element (oxymoron) think twice before deciding to deal misery to the public? I am serious. Having said all that, I am not at all sure I would care to live in a society where the police have the right to kill me if they think I was guilty of drug dealing.
metalman.

wow

...right on metalman.
This is a bandaid solution at best.
But then,that seems to be how our society deals with issues like drugs and crime.
While a death sentence may be a bit harsh,I would certianly support LONG sentences for drug dealers...very long.
People who choose to deal dope of any kind are no better than murderers. and should be treated the same by the courts.
The product they sell kills and destroys lives.
And we need to consider how drugs and crime in general are related.
The odds of our laws changing to deal with these lowlifes are just about zero.
I just can't figure out why?
What are our lawmakers afraid of?

Problem is we simply do not have enough prison space to house drug addicts. Most street level dealers are addicted themselves so you would be jailing addicts and do you have any clue how much space that would tqake up? Prisons would become our number one industry just like it is in the states and look at the situation they are in. We need root solutions to society's problems and putting nearly everyone in jail won't work. I agree high level dealers and importers should go to jail but they have far too much power and money to allow the police to be any real compitition.

How can the N.F.C have a contract with the Government to run this big Drug Rehab and hire Architects when the Property is not Zoned for this project??? I live in the area , why wasn't community consultation done a long time ago ?? Could it be because we are a lot of seniors and Low Income families. It appears that nobody gives a damn about our safety. Can everyone involved in this Project gaurantee that there won't be any pedophiles or rapists housed there as it's next door to parks and schools. I guess our children Don't count In the VLA ,Connaught and Miller areas. The city allows the prostition to keep going on and women and children being approached by Johns asking are you working? This problem was not going on until the City sent us the problem. One has to wonder if its not the same game plan going on with the Homeless ,moveing them out of the Downtown and into the Backpacker . WE don't want more problems. Who is going to be responsible if something happens to a Child or a Home Invasion of a senior?? CrystalMeth addicts can be desperate and should not be put is a Residential Neighborhood. Find another spot. We have had enough. Would you want this project in your Neighborhood??