by
Jodi Lastman |
Sep 4, 2018
The topic may, at first blush, seem unimportant. But, make no mistake
about it, public toilets are a major public health issue. In an
excellent article, The Globe & Mail’s Andre Picard commented that:
“In Canada, we behave as if urination, defecation and
menstruation are not routine bodily functions, but are somehow optional
if we are away from our homes.” Adding that: “The answer is not to
refuse to build public bathrooms, it is to value and maintain them as
any other public infrastructure.:
The following five thinkers and doers from across Canada have something to say on the topic of public toilets in parks.
Lezlie Lowe, The Journalist
Halifax Journalist Lezlie Lowe is
literally writing the book on public toilets in Canada. She was inspired
to write the book when she became a mother, spending time in Halifax’s
Common, Canada’s oldest urban park. “The only bathroom on the premises
was in a basement where I couldn’t take the stroller and the public
bathroom was often locked.” This caused her to contemplate the politics
of public bathrooms.
Lowe’s way of moving through the city changed because, as the parent
of two daughters, her needs had shifted. What she’s discovered through
this new lens is that it’s challenging to try and fix the lack of access
to public bathrooms, particularly if you’re not a person of privilege.
“If you have compromised access to public bathrooms and you don’t have a voice, it’s hard to get things changed.”
Lowe points to the particular challenges of homeless, trans and
disabled people who face unique challenges when accessing public
bathrooms.
“Public bathrooms are supposed to be for anybody. But
that access is compromised if there are activities deemed “anti-social”
going on in public bathrooms. When that happens, instead of fixing the
challenge, bathrooms are simply shut down.”
Lowe points to the fact that while most public bathrooms are divided
50/50 for men and women, women actually need more bathrooms than men do.
First, women tend to use bathrooms more frequently. Also, because women
are more often the caregivers of children and seniors, they have others
who accompany them on their bathroom visits. That explains why there’s
always a lineup for the women’s bathroom.
Watch out for Lowe’s book No Place To Go, being released by Coach House books in September, 2018.
Joan Kuyek, The Advocate
An Ottawa Civics Bootcamp gave birth
to an organization that advocates for public toilets. At the session,
Joan Kuyek and her team developed a 5 minute pitch that was so well
received that it led to GottaGo!, a campaign for safe, clean, accessible and easy to find toilets in Ottawa.
Kuyek believes that public toilets suffer under a veil of silence
that needs to be broken. She likens breaking the stigma around public
toilets to Margaret Mitchell’s pronouncements about domestic abuse in
the House of Commons in 1983. “It’s time to let go of the stigma, shame
and silence that gets in the way of providing publicly accessible
toilets,” says Kuyek.
Gottago! does just that.
Ottawa’s highly trafficked Dundonald Park was recently renovated,
without the inclusion of a publically accessible toilet. What are the
practical implications? “The seniors who used to do Tai Chi in the park
can no longer get together there. Not without a bathroom,” says Kuyek.
We know that only 5% of seniors use parks. Kuyek believes this number
would be much higher if we provided basic facilities that would make it
easier for seniors to venture out without worrying about how they’ll be
able to find a bathroom should they need one.
Kuyek acknowledges that building new
public toilets is expensive. Installing and maintaining a new bathroom
is somewhere between 200,000 to 300,000 dollars. In the interim, she
welcomes the use of porta potties, but doesn’t see that as a suitable
long term solution.
Montreal has installed composting
toilets that cost in the neighbourhood of $30,000 to $40,000 dollars,
which Kuyek sees as the best solution for everyone. A typical composting toilet is completely waterless and the waste from composting toilets is processed on-site.
“Every park needs a public bathroom. Otherwise the
amenities created for people simply can’t be used by many. If we want
the health benefits of parks, we have to provide bathrooms.”
Most importantly, we need to have the conversation about public
toilets in a way that reduces the stigma associated with bodily
functions. “It can’t be hidden away anymore.”
Jason Singh, The Disruptor
Living with Crohn’s or Colitis can
mean upwards of 20 urgent bathroom trips a day. It’s a huge issue for
the 250,000 Canadians who have Crohn’s or Colitis and face serious
social isolation without enough access to public bathrooms. That’s why Crohn’s and Colitis Canada developed the GoHere Washroom Access Initiative which is based on three key components:
- Local
businesses and organizations sign on to the program and display a decal
letting people know their bathrooms are open to those in need-no
questions asked
- There’s a mobile app that helps people find the closest available washroom registered with the GoHere initiative
- A GoHere
card (both printed and virtual versions) acts as a safeguard for people
facing emergencies and needing access to a location. It’s a shorthand
that helps people explain their need without having to speak about it in
public.
Crohn’s and Colitis Canada is
actively working with a number of municipalities such as Toronto,
Mississauga, Calgary and Stratford to open up washroom access at city
operated facilities such as civic and community centres, helping to make
communities more accessible.
“All people should be in a position to venture out without anxiety,” says Jason Singh Manager,
Innovative Health Initiatives with Crohn’s and Colitis Canada. “This is
a hidden disease that affects so many Canadians. When our constituents
have the right accommodations, everyone benefits.”
Rebecca Pinkus, The Urbanist
“I’ve been a park person for the better part of my life,” says
Rebecca Pinkus. And she means it. Pinkus is an “”Olmsted groupie” who
focused her masters research on the history of engineering green space,
and she is deeply interested in the role of urban parks on mental
health. Her park-time increased last year when she got an allotment
garden in High Park, a 109 plot garden in Toronto’s biggest park. In her
section of the park, a porta potty has been provided by the City and is
used by the gardeners who often work on-site for several hours. It’s
also used by dog walkers, runners and the general park population.
Rebecca finds that the porta potties do the trick, as they are
generally well maintained and clean. In fact, she sent a thank you note
to the City when they replaced the free standing flush-model unit that
people had trouble using with a standard no-flush model.
However,
Pinkus worries that the porta potties aren’t accessible to people in
wheelchairs and mobility devices. Also, she says, there have been times
when the lock has been broken and fellow gardeners have had to stand
watch while others used the facilities.
Rebecca understands the risks and costs associated with installing
bathrooms. City workers need to address issues such as drug use,
vandalism and misuse of the space. However, she wonders whether compost
toilets might be a better long term, year-round solution. “I’ve used
them at
Everdale Farm and they’re amazing,” she says. “I wish the city would consider installing them in places like High Park.”
Photo Credit: Rebecca Pinkus
Stuart Mackinnon, The Commissioner
Stuart Mackinnon is a Commissioner of the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation.
Mackinnon’s long been an advocate for public bathrooms across
Vancouver. He is adamant that “”publicly accessible bathrooms need to be
approached as a public health issue.” This issue is particularly urgent
as the population ages, he says.
Mackinnon was pleased to see that Vancouver’s recent capital plan
included $12.3 million to maintain and renovate publicly accessible
washrooms which include washrooms in field houses and concession stands.
Even though that’s a big investment, Mackinnon admits, “it’s very
expensive to put in a public bathroom.” Those capital costs include
building the infrastructure to pipe in water.
“No one really likes porta potties,” says Mackinnon, “they’re ugly, smelly and community members complain about them.”
One solution to the lack of publicly accessible bathrooms is mixed
use development, which Mackinnon says is “just good design.” Once the
city is investing in infrastructure for new seniors or daycare centres
or community centres, they also build publicly accessible bathrooms
outside the building when they’re located adjacent to parks. It’s a
solution Mackinnon would like to see spread around his city, and across
Canada.
Also, during his term as Commissioner Mackinnon has championed the
availability of hand soap. It seems obvious, but before 2010 many public
bathrooms did not provide soap because there had been issues of soap
being misused and soap dispensers being pulled off the wall.
As a public school teacher, he knows how hard the government has
worked to inform people about the importance of hand washing as a
critical method of avoiding communicable ailments like the flu. “Dealing
with this kind of stuff is just the cost of running public services,”
says Mackinnon, “and the cost of not providing soap, from a public
health standpoint, is much higher”
(c) 2018 Park People
https://parkpeople.ca/archives/9644
