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ROBERT LEE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
529 Country Club Blvd. is a Manitoba Housing seniors residence.<\/p>\n
The mental toll has weighed heavily on him. He takes anti-anxiety medication to deal with the stress and despair when the treatments don\u2019t work.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy anxiety level, it just goes through the roof. I\u2019m in a panic state, I\u2019m paranoid, I can\u2019t sleep, I can\u2019t rest,\u201d he told the Free Press Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt becomes almost impossible to sleep, and it becomes unhealthy because you\u2019re just at your wit\u2019s edge. You can\u2019t even function properly. The comforts of a home are gone. I have very little comfort. I wish I didn\u2019t have to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was among a number of tenants who took their concerns about pests to area MLA Logan Oxenham, who visited the building\u2019s lounge to meet with constituents and hand out ice cream Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to draw the line when I hear people blaming other people for bugs \u2014 it\u2019s an act of nature, it doesn\u2019t really matter where they come from \u2026 but I don\u2019t understand how they could be spraying a building for (years), and they haven\u2019t eradicated the bugs,\u201d one tenant said at the afternoon gathering.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis blows my mind, because I\u2019ve seen (private companies) come into a private building and clean it up.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the meeting, Oxenham (Kirkfield Park) acknowledged the bedbugs as a serious issue and committed to listening to the needs of the building\u2019s tenants.<\/p>\n
\u201cFolks deserve to live in housing that is healthy and safe,\u201d the NDP MLA said.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Housing Minister Bernadette Smith said the province was working on controlling the pest outbreaks at 529 Country Club Blvd.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaintaining the safety and dignity of units in Manitoba Housing is something we are always working on, and we will continue to monitor how we can best support all Manitobans living in Manitoba Housing,\u201d they said in an email.<\/p>\n
But Gwyllt doesn\u2019t believe the spraying done by Manitoba Housing is enough to address the root problem. At times, a whole floor is sprayed in just 20 minutes, he said, and he\u2019s had experiences where he\u2019s re-entered his suite after it\u2019s been sprayed and immediately spotted a living bedbug.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there\u2019s not going to be somebody that\u2019s being proactive in this matter, it\u2019s going to go on and on and on, and it\u2019s going to get worse, not better, not even stay at this level,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey might say, \u2018Yes, our numbers are coming down,\u2019 but they\u2019re not, I\u2019m sure they\u2019re not, because new people are being infected with it, so they\u2019re spreading.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pest-control companies may have a number of tools at their disposal to treat bedbugs, including insecticide sprays, heat treatments, vacuums and even dogs trained to sniff out pests.<\/p>\n
Manitoba Housing does not allow tenants to hire their own pest-treatment companies under Environment Act regulations. As Manitoba Housing is a Crown corporation, chemicals used in treating its buildings have to be approved through those regulations.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Ruth Bonneville \/ Free Press<\/p>\n Lewie Gwyllt has dealt with bedbugs for most of his eight years at 529 Country Club Blvd.<\/p>\n Lincoln Poulin, president of Poulin\u2019s Pest Control, said he gets calls from Manitoba Housing tenants seeking additional pest control, but has to turn them away because of provincial legislation.<\/p>\n While it may be true that the province could offer more in-depth treatment in the housing units it operates, Poulin said his staff will run into issues where one tenant is refusing to have their unit treated and it\u2019s creating recurring infestations in surrounding apartments.<\/p>\n \u201cDo I think that something more needs to be done? Yes, but before I can say it\u2019s all on the applicators, I\u2019ve got to go back and look at what is the tenant co-operation like, and that is such a huge factor for the pest-control (staff) to be able to get control,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n There are some private seniors\u2019 buildings where ownership will hire Poulin\u2019s to inspect potential tenants\u2019 belongings and confirm they are bedbug-free.<\/p>\n He said a multi-year infestation in any building is too long.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst thing that would come into my mind is, what is the procedure, if any new people are introduced to that apartment block?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mice are still Winnipeg\u2019s most prominent pest, Poulin said, with bedbugs and cockroaches fighting for second place.<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \u201cBedbug infestation levels are down. We\u2019re not finding thousands of bedbugs like we did 20 years ago, 25 years ago, but we are still constantly dealing with bedbug work,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s still a huge part of our business, and it\u2019s an ongoing thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Access to safe housing is a public health issue, and part of what makes housing safe is being able to properly treat pests, said Noah Schulz, the provincial director for the Manitoba Health Coalition.<\/p>\n \u201cHealth and housing are hugely connected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n morgan.modjeski@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Malak Abas Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg’s North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0 Read full biography<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t
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