Saskatoon: A black hole of desperation

Page 6

Gang wars, prostitution, slums, the drug trade, rogue cops, cover-ups and racism-the urban jungle where life is cheap and the rules don't apply. We're talking about the toughest, hardest, most dangerous ghettos that haunt the major cities in the United States, right?

No. Would you believe Saskatoon?

It's true. Drive along the Yellowhead Highway as it makes its way through this northern Saskatchewan municipality of just over 200,000 souls. It's a three- hour drive north of Regina, five hours east of Edmonton, but not as far from Harlem as you might want to think.

When you get to 20th Street, look east and you'll see the shiny heart of the city-upscale hotels and well-turned-out office buildings line the shore of the South Saskatchewan River that winds through the centre of town.

Turn west and drive along 20th Street. Pay close attention. You'll see young girls-in many cases tragically, horrifyingly young-walking the strolls. You'll notice the gang graffiti sprayed everywhere. Check out the boarded up apartment buildings. No, they're not abandoned. Somebody lives there.

If you know where to look you can find Lysol houses, crack houses and rundown homes that have been converted to neighborhood supermarkets that offer every sort of illicit drug.

One other thing about "the 'hood," as many of the locals call this part of town: most of the people you'll meet here are Aboriginal.

It's the riding of Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert and it's not pretty.

It's the place where Rodney Naistus and Lawrence Wegner and Neil Stonechild and Darcy Ironchild and Lloyd Dustyhorn were last seen before their bodies were found a few kilometres away on the edge of town.

It's the place where Darrell Night was picked up by disgraced former Saskatoon City Police constables Ken Munson and Dan Hatchen before being forcibly confined and taken to the Queen Elizabeth Power Plant and abandoned on a frigid January night.

Those former police officers are still serving time after being convicted for that criminal act.

John Melenchuk sees what goes on in the area from his sixth floor balcony near Avenue M. The 40-year-old Metis man has achieved a certain amount of notoriety in town. He's a social critic and activist who won't shut up. If there's a public event involving the local police, there's a good chance he'll show up, megaphone in hand and wearing a hand-painted T-shirt with some message designed to infuriate public officials who he accuses of being more interested in covering up the truth than finding it.

Walking along 20th Street with Melenchuk may just be the very best way to meet the people and hear their stories and see the urban decay close up. Everybody knows Melenchuk in the 'hood. They bring their stories to him because he makes a little noise on their behalf.

He did a little provincial time back in his younger days. The kind of person who can get along with anyone, he was able to move easily among all the factions inside. He even edited the sports section of the provincial correctional centre's inmate newspaper. He's seen the province's criminal justice system from all angles.

After a rowdy youth, Melenchuk straightened out, took some courses and started a landscaping business. His clients included the former lieutenant governor of Saskatchewan and the RCMP. He keeps a scrapbook full of photos of successfully completed projects.

"This is what I lost when I got stabbed," he said, thumbing through the pages of photos.

It was Halloween night in 1998. Melenchuk and two buddies drove downtown to get some liquor at a bootleggers. Always ready for a little socializing, he tried to strike up a conversation with a man in the alley. The man stabbed him in the abdomen and twisted the knife. Five years later, the scar is still hard to look at.

"I was laid up for a year-and-a-half. My mother had to nurse me through it," he said.

He was later told he was at death's door when he arrived at the emergency ward. Doctors told his fmily they gave him a 15 per cent chance of making it. Even worse, he had to drive himself to the hospital because nobody else could drive the standard transmission vehicle. He crashed into a wall at emergency, injuring his back as well.

"Everything was happening in slow motion, just like they say," he recalled. "I remember the knife was cold. I remember thinking, 'Wow, so this is what it's like to be stabbed.'"

He said the police never made it to the accident scene that night. They checked out the stabbing the next day but, he claims, didn't exactly break a sweat doing the investigation. No charges have been filed in this incident. Melenchuk said he told the police who did it and even where he lives.

You'll hear many stories about long waits for police response in the 'hood. People complain that they just don't get the same treatment that people get in the more affluent east side of town.

Melenchuk filed a complaint about the lack of police investigation into his stabbing. He was not satisfied with the results of the Saskatchewan Police Complaints Investigators Office's investigation and complained to the provincial ombudsman. On April 8, the ombudsman's office informed him that after an initial review of his complaint, an investigation would be launched into the process followed by the police complaints investigators.

Quentin Ermine is another man who believes the police don't put as much energy into investigations in the 'hood. He was adopted out as a child, grew up in the United States and then returned to Saskatoon recently in search of his birth parents. He discovered his birth father was fatally shot three times in the head at his Avenue I home in August 1987. Almost 17 years later, he said, no charges have been laid. He told Windspeaker he was getting nowhere trying to finding out what was going on with the investigation.

Margaret Lafond complained as well. She told this publication on June 22 that she'd heard nothing about the state of the investigaion into the murder of her 21-year-old daughter Karen. The next day, Danielle Rae Bird was arrested and charged with fatally stabbing the younger Lafond just yards from her front door on May 23.

The tensions between the police and the people in Riversdale, as this area is called, have not been lessened by the reports of starlight cruises. The fact that two police officers were convicted and fired and jailed helped restore the people's belief in the system. The words and deeds of new Police Chief Russell Sabo have helped. Melenchuk, not one to speak kindly of those in authority in Saskatoon's justice system, had positive things to say about Chief Sabo and Mayor Jim Madden, a former Saskatoon cop.

It was Melenchuk who brought the inner city community together on June 19 to begin the healing. Madden showed up at St. Paul's Hospital on 20th Street, along with close to 200 people of all backgrounds. In attendance and also eager to shine a bright light on a police and political establishment that he believes needs a thorough sweeping out was Rick Klassen and his wife Kerrie.

The couple was accused of satanic ritual abuse of foster children in their care in 1990 in a story that was dubbed the "scandal of the century" in the Saskatoon media. The fifth estate, the CBC's investigative journalism show, eventually proved the allegations made by a disturbed young boy were false.

The Klassens are suing a senior Saskatoon police officer, who was the lead investigator at the time, several therapists who dealt with the children and Crown prosecutors for $10 million for malicious prosecution. The case is expected to go to trial in the fall, right around the time an inquiry into the death of Neil Stonechild, who was 17 years old when his frozen body was found on the outskirts of town, is scheduled. Klassen wonders if the two haven't been scheduled at the same time to make it difficult for the press and public to follow both closely.

At the vigil, the mayor said it was important o begin to look to the future.

"This is a community in need of some healing," Jim Madden told the group. "But now it's begun."

When he accepted the job as chief of police in Saskatoon 18 months ago, Russ Sabo knew it would be a challenge. That may end up being a colossal understatement. He has already survived a non-confidence vote from the rank and file members of the police service and a complaint filed by the daughter of a long-time police officer that accused him of being coarse and making unreasonable demands. Klassen and Melenchuk both believe the attempts to cause trouble for the new top cop are an indication that senior people with a lot to lose are resisting any changes the new man wants to impose.

During an hour-long interview in his office on June 22, Sabo discussed the situation he inherited when he moved to Saskatoon from Calgary.

He said he is trying to introduce "community policing with the goal of reuniting the community."

Money is always a problem, he said.

"This is a huge step for any police department because when you are resourced at certain levels all you are able to do is reactive policing," he said. "Are there going to be struggles? You bet. Whenever you introduce change, it doesn't matter whether it's McDonald's or 7-11 or CBC. It doesn't matter. Whenever you are introducing change there are elements that people will just have difficulty with."

He rejected suggestions that resistance to change is a sign that top people have a lot to hide.

"The community sees a need for changes to occur quicker rather than slower. Our employees are concerned, you know, 'Gee, are we making change to quickly?' Everybody's got a perception. What I'm trying to do is balance the needs of the community-the needs of our members and the needs of the taxpayers-into something that will be a solution for all of us. And that's the trick," he said.

Melenchuk and others have suggested the number of unsolved serious crimes against Aboriginal people is much higher t