Something that no Vancouver mayoral candidate has yet taken the time to prioritize and address is the rat problem facing the city — that is, until Vancouver Liberals Leader Kareem Allam announced that he would implement a rat task force.
In the endless sea of campaign promises — both municipal and provincial — it takes a lot to stand out. But it seems like the Vancouver Liberals’ campaign team has had a few campaign promises that have caught the public’s attention; like Allam’s promise to go after the Tony Soprano criminals in the city.
Yesterday, Allam and his party announced that they would create a “blue-ribbon task force” to address what the party calls a worsening rat problem in Vancouver.
A release from the party says that rats create issues and risks “concerning waste and garbage management, and public health.”
Allam says the fact that the problem is getting worse is “unacceptable.”
“Understanding rat populations and taking meaningful mitigation steps will help with Vancouver’s disease control and help minimize burdens placed on our hospitals and clinics,” Allam added.
In a campaign video, Allam said Toronto is Canada’s rat capital, but that Vancouver was about to surpass it.
The party painted a pretty gross picture of how rats get into garbage and toss it about while scavenging for food.
“They also roam our sewers and risk bringing contamination to our streets or even into fresh food supplies. This leads to a significant public health risk as rats contribute to the spread of leptospirosis, hantavirus, salmonella, and rat bite fever.”
While there are minimal details of how the task force would operate, the party promises that it would tackle the problem “the right way.”
“We’re going to make sure that we understand the scale of the problem, how rates of rats are tracked, and what it takes to meaningfully improve the situation,” Allam said.
Part of the plan would be to speak with city officials and rat research organizations, and to look at how other cities have successfully taken on the issue.
There are several realities contributing to Vancouver’s ongoing rat problem, including rodenticide restrictions. Integral Pest Control also says Vancouver’s construction boom has contributed, due to the fact that rats’ traditional nesting sites are disturbed.
“Rodents living around construction areas and in neighbouring sewers are forced to relocate when there’s so much activity happening in one area,” Integral said.
Orkin, a pest control company, found that Vancouver is the worst of B.C.’s 20 “rattiest cities.”
On top of that, almost half of Canada’s rattiest cities are in B.C.
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