On Declaring Bed Bugs a Heath Hazard
Councillor Howard Moscoe will ask the Toronto Board of Health to work with the Province to declare bed bugs a health hazard. The reason for the declaration is essentially to empower the City to have the authority to fumigate units that have infestations even if the tenant does not want it sprayed.
Bed bugs should be declared a health hazard and the City should do absolutely everything possible to rid Toronto Community Housing buildings of their infestations and work with the private landlords and property managers throughout Toronto’s rental community to fight infestations there as well. I have been fortunate in my short experience renting never to live in a unit with cockroaches or bed bugs. But that is because I’ve always made a point of asking prospective landlords before renting whether there were bug problems and what they did about it.
The impact bed bugs have on a tenant and their family’s ability to enjoy their home is immense. If you are unable to sleep because of the psychological impacts of bed bugs, that will effect your health and the quality of your life. No one should be afraid of their bed or made to keep their cereal in the fridge because behind that seal is the only way to keep bugs out. A city like ours should not have problems like this.
Tenants in our city, especially in low income buildings are powerless in ridding their units of infestations. You can wash your dishes right after eating, clean you bed sheets weekly, vacuum your furniture and mattresses until you’re blue in the face, if your neighbouring unit has a bug problem, you will too.
The City of Toronto needs to do more to help tenants in TCH rental units especially. On election day the building I was working in was so badly infested on two floors, you could see glue traps and dead cockroaches and other bugs beside the door frame to apartments. It was the first time, I’ve seen bugs in the hall of an infested building. Imagine what that does to your enjoyment of the building if you are literally walking past a bug graveyard on your way into your unit.
There is no excuse for the City not having an all out program to fight bug infestations in our community housing buildings. I am glad that Councillor Moscoe has brought the issue of bed bugs up, and hope he will use his position on the Executive Committee to get additional funding in the 2009 budget for a war on infestations in our public buildings. These residents are constantly forgotten by municipal politicians and it is simply wrong the way their issues are continually ignored.
Clean, well maintained, livable affordable housing units will make for safe, engaged and vibrant neighbourhoods in our city. It is time Council act to show residents of these communities that they understand the problems they face and are going to try to alleviate at least one of them before this term is up. Fighting Bed Bug infestations would be a good place to start.
Tags: Bed Bugs, Health Hazard, Howard Moscoe, Toronto Board of Heath
February 27th, 2009 at 10:12 am
I had no idea that bed bugs really existed and this just freaks me out. How would you know if you had an infested home because of bites or are there other signs…..