Friday, May 13, 2016
YUKON NEWS
yukon-news.com
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Casa Loma trailer park residents face eviction Myles Dolphin News Reporter
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he owners of 12 mobile homes in the Casa Loma trailer park are facing eviction by the end of July, with nowhere to go. Ann Rudniski said she and her husband are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They can’t move their trailer to another mobile home park in Whitehorse because of city bylaws, which prevent trailer additions, or permanent structures, from being moved. Their additions include the master bedroom, dining room and entrance way – about half the home. Most of the people facing evictions at Casa Loma have additions on their trailers, Rudniski said, and can’t afford the moving costs that would likely range between $5,000 and $15,000. Even if they did, owners would have to upgrade their trailers considerably if they wanted to fall in line with the City’s new standards. That means updated wiring and plumbing, insulated roofs and a heat recovery ventilation system, among other requirements. Some trailers wouldn’t
survive being moved at all because of their frail state. Yukon Housing would cover the cost of upgrading the trailers, but not moving them. For now, their only option remains to find a piece of land outside city limits. The other trailer parks in Whitehorse are full, they’ve been told. The Rudniskis already own property outside of Whitehorse, but it was purchased two years ago as a retirement investment. “We’re in a tight bind because of the timeline, but I’m hoping to find a piece of property outside city limits without having to go $200,000 in the hole,” she said. “There’s nothing for us, no recourse.” It started on June 25 last year when the residents received a letter of eviction from general manager Ross King. No reason was given for the eviction, and King declined to comment on this story. Ten months later, Rudniski said she still doesn’t know why they’re being forced to leave. When the group of residents got together to discuss their options on June 28, they discovered that two of the pads had been rented in the past 18 months. But King hadn’t warned those owners
Joel Krahn/Yukon News
Trailer owner Ann Rudniski says she still doesn’t know why she and her husband were given an eviction notice last June. Twelve mobile home owners are facing eviction from the Casa Loma trailer park. they might have to move any time soon. They considered legal action against the trailer park owner and hired a lawyer, Jim Tucker. But Tucker told them King had acted within the law when he distributed the eviction notices. There were no formal rental agreements with many tenants, and those who had one had month-to-month agreements.
To further complicate matters, the City doesn’t even consider the property a trailer park. That means the City’s updated zoning regulations from July 2012, which prohibit permanent structures from being added to trailers, didn’t apply. Pat Ross, manager of planning and building services for the City of Whitehorse, said they closed the door on permanent struc-
tures because they were becoming fixtures at mobile home sites. “It just means the fixtures stay while owners come and go,” he said. “The housing stock never renews or rejuvenates. What we’re trying to achieve is not putting people in the same situation as the Casa Loma people. “It’s a regulatory maze that these people are being subject to.” With just over two months left, time is running out for Rudniski and her husband. There has been talk about possibly moving some of the trailers to the Lobird Trailer Park, Rudniski said, but she’s still waiting to hear back from the owner. The Yukon government is currently conducting a public survey about possible changes to the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. Among the changes being considered are some form of rent control for mobile home parks, and a prohibition on evictions without cause for mobile home owners. An online version of the survey is available at www.community.gov.yk.ca. The survey will run from April 6 to June 6. Contact Myles Dolphin at myles@yukon-news.com
Former veterinarian points finger at Yukon government in Ross River death They left everything exactly the same,” Herbert said. “If you leave News Reporter everything exactly the same and there was a problem to begin he Yukon government with … that definitely makes you bears some responsibility culpable.” in the death of a Ross River Mary Vanderkop, Yukon’s chief man who was killed and partially veterinary officer, said Herbert’s consumed by feral dogs last Occontract was cancelled because tober, says a former veterinarian. the reports contained factual Richard Herbert was cominaccuracies and made recommissioned by the government to mendations beyond the scope of develop a dog control pilot prowhat the government was able to gram for Ross River in 2010. But provide. that contract was later cancelled, Back in 2011, the News was and Herbert said the government told the pilot program would be didn’t act on recommendations too expensive to implement. that could have prevented Shane Still, Vanderkop said some Glada’s death. of the report’s recommendaGlada’s body was found on tions have been carried out. In Oct. 17, after he’d been missparticular, the government has ing for several days. Earlier this helped offset the cost of spaying week, chief coroner Kirsten Mac- and neutering pets for the last donald attended a community several years. meeting in Ross River to explain The government hosted a the results of Glada’s autopsy, spay-and-neuter clinic in Ross which show that he was killed River shortly after the reports by a pack of semi-domesticated were published, and later funded dogs. a spay-and-neuter voucher proHerbert’s pilot program was gram through the Humane Soborn out of concerns about feral ciety Yukon. About 40 dogs from dogs in Ross River back in 2010. Ross River were sterilized under He published two reports that that program between 2013 and made extensive, far-reaching 2015, though 60 vouchers were recommendations about how to offered. solve the problem. His recomBut six months ago, the mendations included a requiregovernment tried and failed to ment for veterinary licensing in host another clinic in Ross River, the territory, an overhaul of dog- because no veterinarian was able related laws, better veterinary to go. “There was simply no one services in the communities and who had the time,” Vanderkop more resources for enforcement said. and public education. She explained that the gov“But they didn’t do any of it. ernment can’t require veterinarMaura Forrest
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ians to visit communities, since they usually do so at a financial loss. “We could hardly ask them to engage in activities that would represent even more of a business loss to them,” she said. “That would not be at all fair.” The spay-and-neuter voucher program ended on March 31. Vanderkop said the government is planning to roll out a new program within the next month. The government also contracted a dog catcher to patrol Ross River shortly after Herbert’s reports were published, Vanderkop said. But that contract was cancelled when it became clear that people were tying up their dogs whenever the dog catcher showed up in the community. “As soon as they see the truck drive in, everybody knows,” she said. “When those activities bear no fruit, they are not going to be continued.” Vanderkop said she doesn’t see a need for more resources to address stray dogs in rural communities like Ross River. “We have not heard that there is a demand that exceeds our capacity.” Still, Herbert’s reports received the support of both the Ross River Dena Council and the Kaska Tribal Council. In 2011, after the program was halted, Ross River Chief Jack Caesar wrote a letter to then-Community Services minister Elaine Taylor in protest. “The program’s advancement
was frozen during the lead-in to the recent Yukon election,” he wrote. “Minister Taylor, will you please direct Community Services’ staff to move forward with the … program?” This week, Herbert wrote a public email to Yukon’s chief coroner, in which he accused the Yukon government of having “shirked its responsibilities in regard to dog-related public health crises.” In response, Macdonald wrote that she had read Herbert’s reports several times. “I have written to the appropriate government department and requested a complete update regarding all the actions taken under the pilot program and where the program is at the moment,” she wrote. She and Herbert aren’t alone in demanding action from the government. NDP MLA Kevin Barr is also calling on the government to modernize the Dog Act, which hasn’t been updated since 2002. The act prohibits dogs from running at large in violation of local bylaws. But Barr said the existing legislation doesn’t help unincorporated communities like Ross River to deal with dog problems, because they can’t create their own bylaws. As it stands, he said, the legislation is unenforceable. He also said that under the existing legislation, the RCMP can’t step in to deal with problem dogs until they become violent.
“What we need to really do is revisit the Dog Act and do a fullon consultation with affected people that are living in communities that aren’t the same as municipalities,” he said. But when Barr raised the issue in the legislative assembly this week, the Yukon government did not commit to revisiting the legislation. “With regard to the specific act, no piece of legislation will solve all these problems,” Community Services Minister Currie Dixon said. But Barr says that’s not good enough. “This isn’t something new that just happened. And so it’s fallen on deaf ears. There could have been more leadership by the government to move on this.” In the wake of Glada’s death, the Ross River chief and council have agreed to form a working group and make eight to 10 recommendations for dealing with feral dogs. Macdonald hopes to see those recommendations within a few weeks. Back in 2011, when Herbert’s reports were released, the News spoke with longtime Ross River resident Tim Moon. He was skeptical that the pilot program would lead to any change. “Maybe when a kid gets chewed up,” he said at the time. “Hopefully it won’t come to that.” Glada was 22. Contact Maura Forrest at maura.forrest@yukon-news.com