Should the Sault have more public toilets downtown?

As one man in Sudbury is proposing buckets as a solution to the lack of public toilets in that city for people experiencing homelessness, local advocates note there is a similar lack of public washroom facilities in the Sault.

Sudbury-based homelessness advocate Holland Marshall has filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal claiming the city is discriminating against the local homeless community.

In his application, Marshall notes that the city “has refused to provide public washroom facilities in the downtown for the use of the homeless population,” and that they have been “forced to relieve themselves in the alleyways, store alcoves, behind restaurants, stores and garbage dumpsters.”

As a result, he said “this causes the homeless to feel shame, embarrassment, discomfort, stress and helplessness due to the city’s discrimination against them for being homeless.”

Robert Peace, president of the Sault Ste. Marie-based organization Helping Hands, said he also believes public washroom facilities are a human right and claims there are not enough of them in the downtown core — not just for the homeless, but for the general public and tourists alike.

"There are people living on the street who have nowhere to go. We have a garbage bin at the side of our facility that — we didn't want to have to put one there — but we just have quite a bit we have to deal with and it ends up becoming a place in behind it where people are going to the washroom," said Peace. "There's no other place for them to go, especially in the evening."

Peace noted that even Helping Hands has closed its washrooms to the public, offering those facilities to staff only because there are often confrontations when people utilize the washroom for drug use.

"We have to limit the washroom to volunteers because we have young women young men who are volunteering they may not all be experienced with potential violence," said Peace. "Some people have done things in the washroom and made a huge mess and who's going to clean that? So it's very difficult for retailers to be put in that position. I think that is a municipal issue that has to be dealt with as a health issue."

Peace said the issue not only affects people experiencing homelessness, but also members of the general public who need to use the facilities.

"Then there's places like down on our boardwalk where tourists have no access to any washroom," he added. "The closest access would have to be walking all the way into Station Mall, but then we're asking a private place to be supplying public access for people who are walking along through a public park."

Peace said one solution that would address both the homeless washroom and tourist washroom shortage would be the building of self-cleaning washrooms, which have already been put in place in many tourist spots around the world.

"I understand there's blue lights so people can't see veins easily enough and when they are finished there is a flashing light and you have 20 seconds to get out. Then you get out and it disinfects and spray washes everything down.

The Quebec-based company Urben Blu has been installing self-cleaning washroom facilities in municipalities across Canada, including several in Ontario. A single unit starts at approximately $200,000, while a double unit starts at $300,000. However, the total all-in start-up cost municipalities have reported begins at $386,000.

Peace notes the cost of those washrooms are higher than non-automated ones, but he expects much of the cost difference would be offset by a reduction in cleaning and security costs. Peace said an automated washroom could be introduced as a pilot project and worked into any one of a number of downtown and waterfront tourism improvements that are being proposed by city staff.

In an email, CAO Tom Vair noted there are city-operated washroom facilities downtown in the following places: Dennis Street Bus Terminal, GFL Memorial Garden, Downtown Plaza, SOO MRKT, Roberta Bondar Pavilion and the Old Stone House. Other public facilities with public washrooms include the Community Resource Centre and public libraries.

"Facilities are open during hours of operation for safety, security, and maintenance considerations," Vair said of the downtown washrooms. "Having facilities open during operational hours ensures we have staff available to regularly clean and inspect facilities, replenish supplies and address any maintenance issues promptly and helps us to uphold hygiene standards."

The city does occasionally receive complaints of people using the outdoors as a toilet, said Vair.

"Our Public Works team will address these concerns on public property," he said. 

Ward 2 councillor Lisa Vezeau-Allen told SooToday that her own social enterprise Grocer 4 Good on Gore Street is not immune to the problem.

"I had an incident last Saturday on Gore Street and our building owner did the clean up," she said. "It has been a topic of conversation around service agencies, including SOYA and all of us definitely wanting better access for our vulnerable folks."

SOYA founder Connie Raynor-Elliott notes that many businesses closed off access to public washrooms during the pandemic and never reopened them.

She said a senior citizen recently appeared at the SOYA door not to draw from the services it provides to the vulnerable population of the city, but instead for a bathroom emergency.

"She had no place to go to bathroom. Nobody lets anybody use the bathroom anymore. COVID is done, bye-bye, but let's put the human back in humanity," said Raynor-Elliott. "It just broke my heart with that senior, that she was so embarrassed."

In addition to filing a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, Marshall has been giving out makeshift toilets to members of Sudbury’s homeless population — a solution that consists of a bag in a bucket and toiletries.

Raynor-Elliott said she would prefer to see automated public washrooms considered for downtown that could be used 24/7 to help avoid people resorting to using the streets and alleys as toilets.

"I don't know, it's frustrating. It's gonna get worse. It's not sanitary, it's not healthy," Raynor-Elliott said of the buckets. "I don't know what else to do. I'm looking for resolutions, not Band-Aids."