Community Affairs Minister Paulie Chinna used emergency powers to convert the Tree of Peace Friendship Centre to an overflow shelter Thursday.
Chinna is able to act under the Emergency Management Act (EMA) “to address the urgent need for a temporary location to provide shelter to vulnerable residents” displaced by the flooding of the Salvation Army’s downtown shelter on the weekend, according to a news release from the GNWT.
“The decision was made following several attempts to secure a location suitable to provide this critical service to the city’s vulnerable residents,” read the release.
The overflow shelter in the Tree of Peace, on 51 Street, will remain in place “until such time that the Salvation Army is able to reopen its doors to the vulnerable population.”