Council decision to sell Yellowknife dog mushers their lot a 'sigh of relief'

Young dog musher Jordee Reid says Yellowknife city council's decision tosell to theYellowknife Dog Trotters AssociationtheKam Lake lot they lease is a "sigh of relief."

The mushers have new certainty after years of lease extensions and fears of another relocation.

"We are happy to just have an ending to this," said Reid, president of the association.

The city plans tonegotiate the terms of a payment plan for the land. It could include conditions such as installing fencing and drainage mechanisms for its 250-dog lot. Coun. Shauna Morgan proposed it as an alternative to a two-year lease extension or an outright refusal to hand the lot over for free.

"The payment plan is key," said Reid after Monday's council meeting, where the decision was approved.

"Dog mushers spend a fortune taking care of their dogs and so we don't have much wiggle room."

The association's lease ends in November. They have to have a plan in place by then.

According tocity documents, they have paid annual lease fees, property tax and environmental security payments to the city since the 1980s.

The city's records system for historical lease payments only go back to the early 2000s. They indicate the trotters have spent $6,125 in lease fees and $12,000 in environmental fees since 2003.

The Kam Lake plot is valued at $360,000. The trotters had asked for a title transfer, at no cost, as an act of reconciliation.

But the city is short on land and "very infrequently" disposes of it for free, said Senior Administrative Officer Sheila Bassi-Kellett in an interview.

The municipality gave a lot in Kam Lake toHabitat for Humanity last year.

Trotters request for free land transfer denied

The trotters have been on the lot since 1978, when they were relocated to make way for the Niven Lake subdivision.

"It's a story of poor consultation, broken promises, and all of these subjects mirror how Indigenous peoples have been treated for generations in Canada," said Reid.

"We know that mushing is part of the fabric of Yellowknife. We don't want to see that go anywhere," said Bassi-Kellett.

The city recognized neighbours' concerns about noise and smell, but recommended the sale regardless.

Peter Curran has owned land in Kam Lake for two decades. He vocally opposed the land sale over road safety concerns, environmental impacts and the noise at feeding time.

"The animals would clamour for attention and that produces a persistent intrusive cacophonous noise impact," he said.

He asked the city to consider other options outside the built-up area. Curran said that while real estate value is not his main concern, the kennels can diminish property values.

Kam Lake is currently a mix of industrial lots and a growing subdivision, Grace Lake.

The dog trotters installed fencing and are mindful of when they feed the dogs to avoid late night noise, but there are exceptions, Reid said.

'Personal and emotional'

Reid said the trotters work to be good neighbours and didn't want to relocate to Engle Business district, a proposal suggested two years ago.

"The [1978] relocation has always been on the backs of the dog mushers," Reid said in an interview at the lot in the weeksbefore her appearance at council.

When Reid's grandparents were relocated to Kam Lake, they had to start over. They passed the kennel down to Reid's parents, then to her.

"It's intergenerational. It is the same for a lot of other dog mushers that have their sled dogs on this property," she said.

The dogs that belong to Reid know who feeds them. They're excitable and leap off their chains as Reid walks through the lot where she grew up.

"It's really personal and emotional on a level more than just sled dogs. It's how I remember my childhood, how I remember my grandparents. It's my sense of place. My childhood was filled with sled dogs."

As a child, Reid would get in trouble for going straight into the dog lot in her fancy school clothes.

"My dad tells a funny ... scary story of one time when he thought he lost me. It turned out that I was just asleep in a dog house with some puppies," she said.

Keeping the communal lot means a future for new generations of dog mushers, Reid said.

"For people that are against us, we are willing to work on trying to be as good neighbours as we can be. We just want to stay in our home."