Advocates calling for public toilets in Greater Sudbury's downtown core

There are no public toilets in Greater Sudbury's downtown area, and people have to rely on private or government owned bathrooms to relieve themselves when out in the community. 

This is problematic for people like Randall Sutherland, who say they face discrimination and stigma when entering these spaces.

"I recently became homeless again due to certain issues," said Sutherland. "I'm trying to raise awareness because there's a lot of troubles here for the homeless." 

"People look at you funny and avoid you in the streets. It's hard." 

Sutherland says that past 4 pm, there are very few bathroom options available for people experiencing homelessness in downtown Sudbury. 

"You have to go find a hidden spot," he said. 

Brittany Laurie, former outreach worker and recovering addict, says there are many people in this situation. She organized a rally at Tom Davies Square on Monday to bring attention to the issue of public toilets. 

"I'm hoping for support," she said. "I want solidarity between agencies and community members on this.

"People are using flower beds, alleyways, grassy spaces behind bushes and doorways to relieve themselves, to have a little bit of dignity and privacy.

"There's nothing being done to rectify that issue except for people complaining that they're doing it," she said.

Concerns over cleanliness and use of drugs

Laurie says there are no immediate plans at city hall to implement public bathrooms. 

She says in previous discussions on the issue, elected officials expressed concerns about how to keep such a space clean and how to ensure people wouldn't overdose in the bathroom. 

However, she believes these are flawed concerns. 

"Reality is, people are going to overdose no matter where they are," she said. "It's going to happen while we are in the middle of the opioid crisis." 

Joel Boivin, a registered nurse and manager of harm reduction services for Sudbury Action Center for Youth (SACY), also believes the concern about potential overdoses is misguided. 

"There is a higher traffic to a public bathroom, so there's a good chance that someone overdosing there could be saved, more so than if the person is hiding in an alley," he said. 

Boivin says that access to a restroom is a basic human right. The whole situation makes him angry, but he says "anger is not a bad thing." 

"It is an agent of change. It is there to tell us when there's something going on that is not right," he said.  "We're tired. We've been doing this for years. We can't do this alone." 

Looking to other communities for solutions

Jim Sproule, who owns and operates a toilet rental company in Sudbury, says other communities have found innovative ways to respond to this issue. 

He cites San Francisco's public washrooms, which automatically clean themselves after each use.

He is unsure how a technology like that would hold up to Canadian winters, but he says it's worth looking into. 

"Something has to be done about this toilet issue, but nobody even wants to touch this subject," he said. 

Sproule says his company's equipment has incurred damage in the past while being used in downtown Sudbury, and security measures would have to be in place for a public washroom project to work out in the long-term.

In Ottawa, the campaign GottaGo! lobbied elected officials for a decade before public bathrooms became an item in the city's budget.

The GottaGo! campaign is a group that advocates for a network of safe, accessible and clean public toilets in the city. 

Retired Carleton professor Bessa Whitmore has been with the group since 2013, and she says some members have used their own savings to fund public toilets in the early years. 

It was a way to set up a pilot project so as to pave the way for the city eventually footing the bill, says Whitmore. 

"People said, oh, you know, there will be vandalism," she says. "Well, it hasn't happened." 

This summer, Ottawa's city council approved 46 portable toilets to be used throughout the city, according to Whitmore.

The set up is temporary, but she says "it is better than nothing."

The city of Sudbury says there are currently no plans to implement overnight public access to washrooms. Spokesperson Kelli Sheppard told CBC news in an email that "the City works closely with partners to identify and rectify challenges identified."

With files from Radio-Canada's Bienvenu Senga