Homelessness, hoarding and weed-killing pesticides grab the attention of city councillors

A Winnipeg city councillor has come back to the table with a more specific call to help people experiencing homelessness while addressing hoarding issues.

Coun. Shawn Nason (Transcona) told the East Kildonan-Transcona commmunity committee on Tuesday that he wants to see a city taskforce to handle "hoarding and collecting behaviours" in public and private spaces. The taskforce would be led by the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service and would be supported by Shared Health, according to his written motion, which he brought up during the meeting. 

Nason writes that the taskforce would "set terms and references to guide the work" and "identify and invite stakeholders to ensure an inclusive approach."

In the motion, Nason also gets more specific with the kind of behaviour he wants to address, including "the acquisition of, and failure to discard, a large number of possessions that appear to be useless or of limited value," and "public spaces sufficiently cluttered so as to preclude activities for which those spaces were designed."

The motion also notes the importance of getting help for people who have hoarding disorder, a recognized mental-health issue.

Last month, the councillor suggested city staff enforce restrictions against hoarding in public areas including transit shelters and encampments. Homelessness and mental-health advocates persuaded Nason to drop the original idea, saying it was too vague and could be used against people who have nowhere else to live or store their belongings.

Nason says he has continued his discussions with St. Boniface Streetlinks about this to come up with a new version of the idea.

"It's not being put forward as a punitive action, but as a supportive measure to get everyone equipped with the tools that they need to address the situation," Nason said during the meeting.

The committee, also including Coun. Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan) and Coun. Jason Schreyer (Elmwood-East Transcona), unanimously approved the motion. If the idea passes through the protection and parks committee, city staff will have 90 days to come up with a plan.

Dandelion devastation: Councillors wants pesticides back

In the name of beautifying the city — and saving money — Browaty presented his idea to bring back previously banned cosmetic pesticides to address unruly dandelions on boulevards and in parks.

"Seas of dandelions aren't unusual, especially in the wet years," Browaty said during the meeting, adding that without cosmetic pesticides, the city cuts the grass more often or staff pull them out by hand.

To save money and deal with the weeds, Browaty is asking city staff to come up with a plan on phasing in cosmetic pesticides next year. In his motion, Browaty writes that he wants "priority to image route boulevards and parks."

The province recently announced it will change its cosmetic pesticide laws to allow Manitobans to use federally approved products on their lawns.The legislation will also add more areas where pesticides can't be used, including city playgrounds, dog parks, picnic areas and provincial parks. It would still be against the law to use them around schools, child-care centres and hospitals.

Nason added that whatever chemicals were approved for the city to use haven't been effective, and that "the city has failed miserably in maintaining those weeds."

Though he expects to hear from Winnipeggers concerning the health of bees, Nason said he'd like to see the pesticides come back, too.

"It's not the prettiest situation," he said.

Schreyer also agreed with the plan to bring back cosmetic pesticides.

The committee unanimously OK'd the plan. It will move onto the protection and parks committee for approval.