City of London looks to crack down on creepy crawlies in low income buildings
CTV
"Infestations have been proven to negatively impact one's mental health,” proposals put forward to address bug infestations.
A London organization that focuses on supporting people in poverty wants city hall to deal with chronic pest control issues.
A delegation from LifeSpin was surrounded by tenants from London Middlesex Community Housing apartments as they brought forward proposals for controlling bug infestations.
"Infestations have been proven to negatively impact one's mental health, confidence and quality of life,” was one of the messages Andrea Smith delivered to the Community and Protective Services Committee. Smith is a Kings University College student studying in the Social Justice and Peace program - she helped prepare the report for LifeSpin.
Included in the four LifeSpin recommendations is one that calls for the city to create its own vermin control service. Smith told the committee, "A systemic, city run approach would improve the effectiveness of treatment through record keeping and accountability. Other municipalities, such as Hamilton, have taken steps towards this."
However, Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis said that it is an impractical path for the city to go down, "All of that that goes along with having a unionized workforce, occupational health and safety standards, WSIB (Workplace Safety and Insurance Board) standards, WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System) training, all of those things that go into managing the pest control sprays that are required."
Anne Beattie was one of those in the gallery, she lives at the London Middlesex Community Housing building at 30 Baseline Road in west London. Beattie said that pests are a constant nuisance for people in the building, even keeping some out of their apartments, "They would come down and sleep in the lobby. They would fall off their walkers and be injured. Others were [sick with] serious respiratory infections."
