Frustration with the closure of public washrooms in transit stations is understandable, but it's a necessary and temporary measure in light of the number of overdoses in these spaces, says the head of Edmonton Transit.
"Washrooms are not well-equipped for the drug poisoning crisis — they are not supervised nor do they have proper tools to assist in these circumstances. As a result, our teams are investigating options to make them safer," said branch manager Carrie Hotton-MacDonald in an email responding to Episode 171 of Speaking Municipally, Taproot's civic affairs podcast.
Co-hosts Mack Male and Troy Pavlek had criticized the decision, which was noted in the transit safety and security report in February but flew under the radar until CTV Edmonton published a story saying most of the 30 public washrooms in transit stations had been closed. The report said the Community Outreach Transit Team (COTT) would direct people to nearby facilities while the washrooms remained closed, but that struck Male as an inadequate solution.
"'Go somewhere else' assumes a) that you are able to go somewhere else, and b) that there's somewhere else to go. And as I've complained about loudly many times, so many of the public washrooms that we already have are still inaccessible," he said. "I don't know where they expect people are going to go if they can't use these public washrooms."
Male asked why the city couldn't fund better monitoring of the washrooms instead of closing them. Hotton-MacDonald said her team is researching all options.
"This might mean, as examples, equipment changes, communications and signage, and more training," she wrote. "I've seen, as another example, motion detector technology utilized to signal when there hasn't been any movement from a person in the space, which could be a sign that someone is in distress."
She emphasized that washrooms will reopen "when it's safe and after we've made improvements." But the bigger issue is an unsafe supply of illegal drugs and the lack of support for people with addictions. "What we're seeing in transit is bigger than ETS and bigger than just the City," she said, echoing her comments in Episode 170 on the need to address the root causes of disorder in transit stations.
In light of the worsening drug poisoning crisis, we need to do more than make transit washrooms safer, said Pavlek. "I don't think our transit centres should become supervised consumption sites. But I think it makes pretty dire and stark the need for supervised consumption sites."
The public washroom at the Jasper Place transit centre is one of 15 that has been closed as part of the transit safety plan approved by city council in February. (Jon Spencer)
Speaking Municipally also took a look at a discreditable-conduct complaint against police chief Dale McFee that Duncan Kinney and The Progress Report filed after the police revoked Kinney's media credentials, thus preventing him from asking questions at news conferences.
The Progress Report engages in advocacy, but it also publishes journalism, such as a recent story on the police service's plane.
"Whether you think they're a media outlet or not, the Progress Report commits acts of journalism, and they do it regularly," Male said on the podcast. "And they're one of the few that is doing it regularly with the Edmonton Police Service."
Taproot supported The Progress Report's application for media credentials in 2020, and Male asked at the March 17 police commission meeting why those credentials were revoked, as did Coun. Anne Stevenson. Geoff Crowe, director of legal services for the police service, wouldn't address the matter. The police commission did pass a motion made by chair John McDougall directing the police service to review its media policies.
"We ask about who watches the watchmen, but in this case, we're asking who watches the people that watch the people that watch the watchmen," Pavlek said. "Geoff Crowe is the answer, and we've got to watch him."
Male and Pavlek also discussed the outcome of the mask bylaw debate, Coun. Jennifer Rice's comments on affordable housing, the Edmonton Catholic school board's decision not to hold a byelection in the vacant Ward 73, and a failed attempt to make EVER Square on Calgary Trail friendlier to active transportation. Find their discussion on the March 25 episode, available wherever you listen to podcasts.