Residents of an 11-story social housing building for the elderly in Montreal have been living “hell” for months over the spread of bedbugs from apartment to apartment, despite attempts to repeated extermination. For many of these low-income tenants, however, moving is not an option.
Les Habitations Simone-Léveillé, which has 151 units, is located in front of the St. Lawrence River and near a community garden, in a linear park in the Verdun borough, a prime location. However, many residents of this building managed by the Office municipal d’habitation de Montréal (OMHM) have been living in psychological distress for months due to the presence of bedbugs in their homes.
“It’s very hard to live with that, so much so that it drives you crazy.” [Les punaises de lit] were on the wall, in my bed, in the bathroom, in my food. Anywhere, ”says Erick Neilson, who opened the door to his apartment located at 10e floor, Wednesday. For six months, the tenant, who has lived in this building for three years, experienced a nightmare. Over the course of various extermination attempts, the most recent of which took place last week in his apartment, “things have calmed down,” he admits. “But I still have them,” he says before pointing to a bowl of water containing several bedbugs.
Since the onset of this infestation, Mr. Neilson has had to get rid of his couch, which was brand new, and now sleeps on an air mattress. He also puts his clothes in plastic bags. Bedbug infestations can also interfere with sleep, create high anxiety, and even lead to depression in those affected, according to various academic research carried out in recent years.
“You end up getting a little nuts.” You see a small black spot on the bed and you immediately think it’s a bug, ”says Claude Courcelles, who has lived in this building for seven years. On two occasions since last year, he has been plagued with bedbug infestations that have stretched over several months. “It’s really a scourge here”, loose the tenant, who questions the quality of the exterminations carried out in a targeted manner by a private company in this building in recent months.
“It was hell”, coward for her part Sylvie Rajotte, who says she had to keep her personal effects in bags for 10 months, until the bedbugs were eradicated from her home. “I just wanted to sit on the floor and bawl,” she says.
Go or stay
Since the start of the year, bedbug infestations have been reported to the Office municipal d’habitation de Montréal (OMHM) in 37 apartments in this building. Of these, 13 are still struggling with “active” cases of infestations of this bug. 81-year-old Sylvia Sunstrum lives in one of these accommodations.
“I have bites all over my arms and legs,” says the resident, who fears the repercussions that the extermination operations that have taken place in her home since she discovered there could have on her health. bedbugs in July. “It’s poison they put every time”, drops Mme Sunstrum.
The Verdun Citizens’ Action Committee is also well aware of the nightmare experienced by several tenants of this building, known for its high state of degradation.
“We receive heartbreaking testimonies. People tell us that they have suicidal thoughts, ”says its managing director, Steve Baird. The latter says that some tenants have decided to leave their accommodation to escape this vermin problem, but for many others, moving is not an option.
“I want this to stop because I love the building, except for the critters. Look at the view, it’s perfect for me. I have a low income and cannot afford to move, ”sighs Erick Neilson.
“A major operation”
By email, the OMHM’s communications director, Mathieu Vachon, indicates that heat treatment took place in the fall of 2020 in all the housing units in the building. However, this measure was “not sufficient to exterminate the bedbugs” found in this building.
“Some homes continued to be treated. The building was re-inspected and several cases were discovered this summer – the tenants had not reported it, ”writes Mr. Vachon. Some tenants sometimes even refuse that the exterminators enter their infested housing, he indicates, which in some cases forces the OMHM to turn to the Administrative Housing Tribunal for authorization in this regard.
A new “large-scale” extermination operation is thus planned “in early 2022” throughout the building. This will be carried out by a new company, confirms the OMHM.
“All accommodations will be powdered and sealed. Particular attention will be paid near ventilation ducts, piping and kitchen hoods ”, assures the spokesperson. A general inspection will also take place at the beginning of the year in the neighboring building, which also has some 150 social housing units, since several housing units are struggling with bedbugs. In the meantime, treatments are done every three weeks in the homes most affected by these infestations.
The coordinator of the Federation of low-rental housing tenants of Quebec, Robert Pilon, for his part urges the OMHM to acquire its own expertise in the extermination of vermin in order to stop depending on the private sector for tackle this “chronic” problem in its building stock.
“It’s inhuman to think that we can be infested for years and that it can come back again and again, but in Montreal, this is the case for several dozen. [de bâtiments de l’OMHM]or even hundreds, ”says Mr. Pilon.