Vancouver lacking in public washrooms: COPE candidates
Posted September 25, 2011 3:46 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Two candidates for Vancouver Park Board say the lack of public washrooms in this city stinks.
COPE candidate Brent Granby says the Downtown Eastside is particularly prone to poor sanitation.
“If people don’t have public washrooms then they end up defecating in the alleyways,” he says. “So in Pigeon Park there is a washroom there… but it’s been broken for months.”
Granby and his slate partner Donalda Greenwell-Baker say building more public washrooms in the city would also be good for business.
“Public washrooms really support vulnerable populations, but they’re also good for business and they’re good for tourism. So if you’re going to ask people to come here from all over the world, you need to have public washrooms to be there to support them.”
Granby says there’s currently enough money in the park board’s annual capital budget to build three new public washrooms anywhere in the city at a cost of about $200,000 each.
Though the problem is particularly pronounced on the Downtown Eastside, he says many other areas of the city could also benefit from additional toilet facilities.
The next Park Board will be chosen in the upcoming Nov. 19 civic election.
