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WHITEHORSE – The Yukon Party Official Opposition continues to have many questions about the refurbishment of the former High Country Inn on 4th Avenue in downtown Whitehorse.
The most recent announcement contains no new information than what was provided in the February 29, 2024, news release, or by the Premier in the Yukon Legislative Assembly. The August 21, 2024, news release does however, include a number of omissions, and inaccuracies, and fails to address the ongoing questions that remain unanswered.
The original timeline for the completion of this project was for Fall, 2022. Now the Liberal government is claiming that the project will not be complete until late winter 2026; over 4 years late.
The original budget for the project was approximately $15 million: $10 million for the purchase of the hotel, and $5 million for the renovation. Now the Liberal government is admitting the project will be over $42 million, which is many times over budget.
“The government’s assertions about the budget and timeline are inaccurate: this housing project is at least 4 years late and millions of dollars over budget.” said Leader Currie Dixon. “Yukoners still don’t know why the territorial or federal governments agreed to purchase a hotel without an appraisal that looked at the structure of the building or whether it would meet code.”
See Backgrounder.
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Contact:
Tim Kucharuk
Media Director
(867) 689-7874
Backgrounder
1. Timeline
The original timeline for this project had a target date of completion of Fall 2022.
On August 30, 2021 Yukon Housing Corporation and the Safe at Home Society presented to City Council and indicated that residents would begin to move into the facility in September 2022. https://video.isilive.ca/whitehorse/2021-08-30.mp4.html
A Yukon Government press release dated January 31, 2022 confirmed this date as “fall 2022.”: https://yukon.ca/en/news/expanded-support-rapid-housing-project-whitehorse
The most recent news release says “The project remains on schedule, with a goal to open in late winter 2026.”: https://yukon.ca/en/news/government-yukon-and-safe-home-society-announce-progress-transforming-former-high-country-inn
2. Budget
The original budget for this project was approximately $15 million dollars: 10 million for the purchase of the property and hotel, and $4-5 million for the renovations.
This budget was presented to City Council on August 30, 2021: https://www.whitehorse.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Special-Council-Meeting-Aug-30-2021-Agenda-and-Package.pdf
This budget was also confirmed, with an additional $1 million from Yukon Government in a Yukon Government news release: https://yukon.ca/en/news/expanded-support-rapid-housing-project-whitehorse
While the hotel was indeed sold for approximately $10 million, the renovations have since increased dramatically. The February 29, 2024 news release indicated the construction cost was $42.1 million: https://yukon.ca/en/news/government-yukon-investing-safe-home-society-build-67-new-permanent-supportive-homes-whitehorse
3. Funding Sources
The Government of Yukon claims that its investment towards this project is $12.9 million and include $5 million through the Rapid Housing Initiative in 2021-22.
In fact, the Rapid Housing Initiative funding of $5 million was federal funding provided to the City of Whitehorse. On August 30, 2021 the City of Whitehorse decided to apply for $5 million from the Rapid Housing Initiative and apply that funding to the Safe at Home project thought the Yukon Housing Corporation. https://www.whitehorse.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Special-Council-Meeting-Aug-30-2021-Agenda-and-Package.pdf
4. Unanswered Questions
The Official Opposition has written multiple letters to the federal government, asked numerous questions in the Yukon Legislative Assembly, and has even passed a Motion for the Production of Papers to try to get answers about this project.
Premier Pillai’s response to written question tabled in the Yukon Legislative Assembly that confirms that no assessment of the building that looked at the structure or whether the building was code-compliant was ever done: https://yukonassembly.ca/sites/default/files/2024-03/lr-35-1-129.pdf
