Although city councillors have refused to consider a downtown public washroom, the people living on the street in and around downtown Sudbury say they are doing their best to find safe, out-of-the-way places to relieve themselves, while at the same time trying to be as sanitary as possible for their own health and that of others.
After an August rally at Tom Davies Square called for 24/7 bathroom access for the people of downtown Sudbury, Sudbury.com asked city officials about the situation.
Those few who did respond included Ward 7 Coun. Natalie Labbée, Ward 4 Coun. Pauline Fortin, Ward 5 Coun. Mike Parent and Ward 6 Coun. René Lapierre.
None of them pledged to work toward the creation of downtown washroom facilities, citing challenges such as drug use and biohazards such as blood and bodily fluids, as well as security issues.
Ward 4 Coun. Pauline Fortin said she would not support a washroom facility due to “security, hygiene and biohazard reasons.”
“Sadly, all we would be creating is a private and unsafe injection site,” she said. “It seems to me that if 24/7 public bathrooms were a good idea they would already exist.”
In a follow-up article, Sudbury.com spoke to Tyler Campbell, the city’s children and social services director. He told Sudbury.com that instances of downtown defecation and urination are responded to on a complaints basis, and Campbell said the city has received only one complaint in the last two months.
While the city may have only received one complaint, the fact remains that all people — homeless or otherwise — must relieve themselves, so clearly people living on the street are doing so somewhere.
So Sudbury.com sent a reporter downtown to speak with numerous members of the vulnerable homeless population to ask, “Where are people relieving themselves?”
Many said they occasionally use the washrooms at Tom Davies Square, the Elgin Street Mission or the MacKenzie Street branch of the Greater Sudbury Public Library. A few said they have been banned from the transit station so they don’t go there, while others said they avoid the transit terminal as they would be required to show a bus ticket and get on the next bus, which seems more of a hassle than it’s worth just to use the bathroom.
All those Sudbury.com spoke to said they were more accustomed to going outside, especially at night, when these washrooms are closed.
Urination is not necessarily a concern, for men at least, though sanitation and location are issues. For women, it’s a bit more of a challenge. They must find a secluded space both for privacy and for safety, they told Sudbury.com, noting having to partially undress to relieve themselves puts them in a vulnerable position.
Women also have to deal with menstruation and sanitary hygiene products. Sudbury.com asked 16 women what they do for that time of the month. At least five no longer have a period, due to menopause or a birth control product like an IUD, while the rest use disposable menstrual products.
When it is time to change the pad or tampon, these 11 women told Sudbury.com they go to a secluded spot, remove their used hygiene product and place it in a small bag normally used for dog feces, which is then disposed of in a garbage can.
The bags are freely available, provided by the city for Sudbury dog owners, or purchased inexpensively at the Dollar Store.
Sudbury.com has documented numerous of these bags containing human feces, particularly in the area behind the Greater Sudbury Housing units on Louis Street. While this area seems to be cleaned regularly, there are other areas being used for the purpose that are not, including in alleyways and nearby parks.
Sudbury.com was even shown one area — very near Tom Davies Square — that is being used as a makeshift washroom. Tucked into a little hideaway, two buckets serve the purpose. The person using them places a grocery bag inside the bucket and defecates in the bag. They then remove the bag and place it in a garbage can.
In speaking with 30 people downtown in one afternoon, all said that using the bathroom is a common concern for them, both for the challenge of finding a suitable, out-of-the-way spot, and also for the shame and embarrassment. All expressed hope for a better, more humane solution.
As for the reasons the city councillors provided as to why they wouldn’t support a public washroom downtown, particularly Ward 4 Coun. Fortin’s contention people would use drugs in a public washroom, it was noted by several people Sudbury.com spoke to that people who use drugs are using drugs openly now, so it seems unlikely that a washroom would change that.
Concerned about the potential for bacterial infections from improperly disposed feces, several people also expressed the opinion that a public washroom would be far more sanitary for the environs downtown than the current practice of trying as much as possible to sequester defecation to a few key area or using plastic bags and throwing them in the trash.
The downtown homeless population isn’t the only group in support of a public washroom either. The need was also identified by the Downtown Sudbury BIA in a media release issued in early January.
“Downtowns everywhere are facing this same issue. Progressive cities are meeting the challenge head on with housing and bathroom facilities and have been seeing success,” former BIA chair Jeff MacIntyre said in the release. “Sudbury has been slower to respond to this and I'm really hopeful that our new council has the energy to take on these challenges."
In search of a solution, Sudbury.com checked with several municipalities in Ontario and with a company that installed pre-fabricated self-cleaning washroom facilities. You can find that story here.
Until such time as an official 24/7 public washroom has been made available, those Sudbury.com spoke to said they would continue the way they are now.
All were concerned about the oncoming winter and how that would affect their daily habits.
-With files from Tyler Clarke
Jenny Lamothe covers vulnerable and marginalized communities for Sudbury.com
