A safe room inside Fort Smith’s health centre is still awaiting urgent repair work, the town says, and its condition is having a “serious impact” on the community.
In many health centres, a safe room acts as a space that can be provided for people experiencing mental health crises.
The idea is that the room contains no means by which someone could hurt themselves, while patients can be held securely to de-escalate situations or allow evaluation.
Given those specific needs, if a safe room is not itself safe and requires repair, it cannot be used as intended.
The condition of Fort Smith’s safe room has been repeatedly raised by town councillors. During a November 4 meeting, councillor Mike Couvrette urged the town to push the territorial government for immediate action.
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According to Couvrette, the room’s poor state is disrupting RCMP operations and consuming resources that could be better used elsewhere. He said the facility must be fixed to ensure it can be used properly by both the health centre and police.
Mayor of Fort Smith Dana Fergusson told Cabin Radio the safe room is “ill-equipped.”
She said on two recent occasions, RCMP brought residents in mental health crises to the health centre for assessment but then had to leave for higher-priority emergency calls.
With no operational safe room, the patients were left unsupervised, the mayor said. According to Fergusson, one patient left the facility and was later found in the act of self-harm. The individual survived and was brought back to the hospital.
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Fergusson said the need for a functioning safe room has been highlighted by an increase in mental health-related calls that are pulling officers away from regular duties like investigations, traffic enforcement and community patrols.
Couvrette said the matter of fixing the room has lingered between the NWT Departments of Infrastructure and Health and Social Services, with confusion over which is responsible for the repairs and no clear commitment to fixing the issue. He called the situation “totally unacceptable.”
Council has passed a motion instructing Fergusson to contact the ministers responsible and pursue “an immediate resolution to the operational capacity of the safe room at the health centre.”
GNWT sets out spring 2026 timeline
In a statement to Cabin Radio, the two GNWT departments said they had “substantially completed” work to enhance the safety and security of the safe room’s occupants.
The departments said additional upgrades are under way to protect the room from damage and limit noise transfer, adding that the project is now forecast to be finished in spring 2026.
Fergusson said she wrote to health minister Lesa Semmler in January to request a clear timeline for repairs but did not receive concrete answers at the time.
The town submitted a resolution at an NWT Association of Communities meeting in February, calling for a territorial vision and strategic plan that would address issues like the safe room.
Fergusson said she now meets with health centre management every three months. The mayor said she has been told the project remains stalled because of budget limitations at the Department of Infrastructure, which is responsible for maintaining the facility.
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“It comes down to a budget issue. They just don’t have the money for it,” she said.
Fergusson said work did take place several years ago to improve the safe room, but “the renovation wasn’t done properly.”
“There’s that communication piece that didn’t take place … We’re still waiting another year for budget money to become available,” she said.
“It’s having a serious impact on our community, especially our community policing, and especially on people who are suffering with mental health in a crisis.”
The cost of repairing the safe room was not immediately available.
Fergusson has launched a new letter campaign to the ministers of infrastructure and finance, asking for detailed information on the project’s status, the reasons for the delay, and a full timeline for completion.
“The RCMP are doing a fantastic job,” she said.
“The employees at the health centre are doing a wonderful job. It’s not for their lack of skill or ability. It’s a lack of ability from the Government of the Northwest Territories to properly fund and repair its buildings.”
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