At the last council meeting, Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre’s motion calling for a community-wide strategy to address the city’s rat problem was easily approved. City spokesperson Corey Groulx said at this point, the work will be done within existing budgets, including a web page and an online mapping tool. “And … we have been directed by council to come back with a report on a more comprehensive plan here in the first quarter of next year,” Groulx said. He said the city will launch something similar to the resources for nuisance bears, just for rats. “Where residents can go on, talk about the date, the time that they would have observed this, the number as well as the behaviour,” Groulx said. “All of those data points are extremely valuable for us as far as understanding migration, maybe potential hotspots, and that helps inform future decision-making.” Not a health hazard Public Health Sudbury & Districts said the topic was raised at their board meeting Thursday. Their role is limited, officials said, since rats are not a major risk to public health. “Because rats are typically not carriers of disease and not a major health hazard,” said Dr. Mustafa Hirji, medical officer of health. “(That) limits our legal powers to be actively involved. We can’t go on a property to deal with stuff. We can’t go into homes or buildings to do inspections, because there’s (no) risk from them that justifies our ability to do that. So our role is really around education.” Groulx said the city’s strategy is built around a “collaborative effort.” “So it’s working with the community. It’s working with our pest control experts,” he said. “We’ve got a number of city divisions that are ramping up to deal with this issue and be responsive for that.”
