A Vancouver city councillor has put forward a motion calling for more funding for public washrooms and drop-in shelter spaces, following a plea from local business improvement associations for more action regarding the city’s public defecation problem. The motion was brought forward by Coun. Pete Fry, to be considered at the May 21 City of Vancouver council meeting. Fry has proposed the installation of more accessible toilets close to public transit and in high-traffic areas, including Vancouver’s downtown region. There should be a system in place, he said in his motion, that will ensure the toilets are regularly cleaned and maintained, are safe and usable, and are accessible to all. Fry added that the lack of accessible toilets is disproportionately affecting the unhoused, the elderly, and people with disabilities. “Accessible drop-in spaces and public washrooms are essential for the dignity, health, and well-being of both unhoused individuals and housed individuals,” Fry said in the submitted motion, noting how the lack of public toilets can be “uncomfortable” for visitors, especially women, small children, and tourists. Alongside being unsightly, the public fouling on Vancouver streets brings a whole host of other issues to the fore, the motion points out. “Open defecation brings significant engineering costs, water use, disruption to small businesses, and major public health issues like dysentery or Shigella,” Fry said, adding that a particular bacterial infection, the “multidrug-resistant shigellosis,” has been on the rise in Vancouver. The motion cites a CTV News story published earlier this month, wherein Landon Hoyt, executive director of the Hastings Crossing Business Improvement Association, said the problem of defecation on the streets of Vancouver has “certainly gotten worse” in recent years and has skyrocketed particularly in the previous two years. Speaking to CTV News, Hoyt said Vancouver is “unique” in that there has been a reluctance to put washrooms in places like transit stations and high-tourist, high-traffic areas. “There’s one at Main and Hastings. There’s one at Victory Square Park. There’s one at Pigeon Park. But there hasn‘t been any additions to those in many, many years, despite a lot of advocacy to increase the number,” he said. Hoyt and Walley Wargolet, executive director of the Gastown Business Improvement Society, said the feces littering the public streets is evidence of a much wider problem: the ongoing drug crisis and lack of shelter spaces and services for homeless people. “The lack of funding for these spaces, the high rental costs, the high operating costs,” have caused essential services and shelters to close in recent years, he said. “Those were the places that people were able to go in, use the washroom, access resources, access health care, whatever it might be that they need.” In his motion, Fry requested that council find buildings and spaces throughout Vancouver that are currently being underutilized and are located in areas where there are many unhoused or underhoused people, and repurpose them into shelter spaces. Fry said the spaces should be equipped with essential amenities such as washrooms, alongside seating and charging stations, and staff should collaborate with local organizations to provide support within them, including mental health services and job assistance.
