Yellowknife man refuses to move houseboat

A Yellowknife houseboater says he won't move his home, which iscurrently moored near Rotary Park in Old Town, despite an order by the N.W.T. government.

Randy Sibbeston and two other houseboat owners got trespass notices this June from the department of Municipal and Community Affairssayingthey were on commissioner's land and didn't have permission to be there.

The others moved, but Sibbeston did not.

"For me to move it 20 or 30 feet it would a) put me in the lane of traffic, planes coming, taking off, other boats going by, just general traffic," he said.

MACA says there have been more than 10 complaints about Sibbeston's houseboat. Residents say its location isa bird habitat, and used for swimming, dog walking and snowmobiling.

Emerald Murphy, director of lands administration withMACA, says it comes down to preserving the land.

"We need to know who's on the land and what they're doing, and they need to have our permission," she said.

Sibbeston says MACA only has jurisdiction over the commissioner's land, not water, butMACA says that's wrong. The department has gone to the N.W.T.Supreme Court, requesting permission to have the houseboat removed.