A pair of councilors are seeking support from their colleagues to push back against plans to reduce hours of operation public toilet In Downtown London, Ont.
Ward 11 Co. skyler franke and Ward 13 County. David Ferreira made my pitch in A letter to fellow councilorsIn which the pair said they recently learned that city staff planned to reduce Dundas Place’s public toilet hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., reducing them to 12 noon to 5 p.m. Will be done.
Councillors, who will raise the matter during Tuesday’s council meeting, want the current toilet hours to be maintained instead dundas place fieldhouse and Victoria Park through “a temporary short-term funding source” for the rest of the year.
Franke and Ferreira also want these hours to be maintained after 2023 through a “long-term funding request through a multi-year budget process”.
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“I know that to keep both the Victoria Park bathrooms and the Dundas Place bathrooms open for 12 hours (a day), what we’re proposing is about $300,000,” Franke told Global News.
For Franke, it’s money well spent if it means giving Londoners access to washrooms.
“When you have to use the bathroom, you have to go immediately … We think it’s really important that we keep these open,” Franke said.
Another concern for Franke and Ferreira is how the move could affect those experiencing homelessness.
Jacqueline Sealer, Co-Chair London Homeless AllianceA group focused on advising, shaping and coordinating community responses to homelessness at the local level says the impact of restricting access to public toilets was already seen during the height of the pandemic.
“When these types of services start to be closed, whether it’s a public toilet or a lack of access to showers, it really affects individuals’ dignity and their right to access public services,” Seeler said.
“It was difficult for people to find places where they could use washrooms.”
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The conversation around public toilets comes as local decision makers pay extra attention to the city’s homelessness and housing crisis.
Health and Homelessness SummitA group of more than 200 Londoners from dozens of organizations have a plan to act to tackle the issue at the local level. It will be unveiled before the city councilors on February 28.
An anonymous London family has donated $25 million to the plan and offered a further $5 million if community donations can match that number.
“We need to make sure that, while we are dealing with this housing crisis, we are still thinking about people’s basic human rights – access to food, water, and shower and bathroom access,” Seiler said .
Franke and Ferreira’s pitch for councilor support to maintain washroom hours in the city will be discussed during Tuesday’s city council meeting, which begins at 1 p.m.
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