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A recent break-in at a Yellowknife business has some residents and business owners concerned about public safety — but according to RCMP, the city has actually seen fewer break-ins so far this year compared to any year since 2021.
Police say there have been 89 reported break-and-enters in the city so far this year. There were 162 in all of 2024.
Last Wednesday, two suspects broke into the downtown Subway restaurant and stole a cash register and then fled on foot. No arrests have been made, according to police.
The store’s owner declined to comment but other businesses and advocates in the area shared their concerns.
Bring more people downtown
Tammy Roberts is the executive director of HomeBase Yellowknife, a non-profit that offers housing and programming for youth in the city.
Her office is downtown and she hasn’t heard of, or experienced, any break-ins at HomeBase’s buildings as of late. But she has heard of other concerns.
“From my own personal experience, I’ve heard an increase in [the] general public’s concern for personal safety when walking downtown,” said Roberts.
Roberts believes the solution, to both feeling unsafe and potentially keeping the number of break-and-enters in the city low, is having more people be downtown.
Other businesses respond
In 2022, Yellowknife’s Arctic Jewellers faced thousands of dollars in damages and losses after the owner said it was robbed overnight.
A current employee with the store, and former security guard in Centre Square Mall, Kush Kush, told CBC News he’s not surprised about the break-in at the Subway. He said he’s heard of other businesses in Yellowknife having to deal with robberies before.
Kush said he worked as a security guard in Ontario as well. Public safety concerns, he said, are an issue across all of Canada.
“I wouldn’t say that Yellowknife is extremely different from any other province,” Kush said. “Maybe it seems like there’s less robbery there or like there’s more security there, but that’s not the case. It’s just there are fewer people here and you tend to see the negativity more.”
Mahasi Ortega, manager of Yellowknife cannabis store ReLeaf NT, said Yellowknife isn’t quite what it used to be. She said she’s lived in the city for decades and, from what she sees, people are hurting.
“People are struggling with addictions, with family problems, with homelessness,” she said. “It seems like nobody cares, or that’s how they feel, probably that nobody cares. So there is this anger, I feel.”
In spite of these challenges, Ortega wants to welcome people to her store and have trust in them.
“Everybody deserves a smile. Everybody deserves a welcoming store,” she said.
“How do I feel safe? By looking them in the eye and saying, ‘hi, how are you? What can I do for you?'”
CBC News asked RCMP for an interview, but police did not respond in time for publication.
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