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Business leaders to discuss solutions for city's vulnerable

Whitehorse Mayor Dan Curtis and Kwanlin Dun First Nation Chief Doris Bill are hoping the business community can come up with some concrete ideas and solutions this weekend.

Whitehorse Mayor Dan Curtis and Kwanlin Dun First Nation Chief Doris Bill are hoping the business community can come up with some concrete ideas and solutions this weekend to help the city’s most vulnerable people.

The local governments have organized a roundtable workshop, scheduled for Saturday morning at the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre.

It’s a follow-up to the Vulnerable People at Risk forum that was held in late April, where almost 300 people gathered to brainstorm ways to deal with issues of homelessness, substance abuse and mental illness on the streets of Whitehorse.

Having more affordable housing options and better communication between the organizations that provide services to vulnerable people emerged as the most crucial issues.

The idea for the business community get-together came about after city councillor Mike Gladish returned from a similar conference in Toronto earlier this year.

“He did some more studying about what people across Canada were doing to help vulnerable people,” said Whitehorse city manager Christine Smith.

“He came back to the Yukon and said ‘We’re missing the business community, we really need to have their input.’”

While some businesspeople attended the first forum in April, Smith said, they wanted to focus this workshop exclusively on them.

A reception is scheduled for this evening from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., while the workshop will be held tomorrow from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.