One of Maple Ridge's best known public crusaders is going to work on a new issue.
This time, Linda Meyer is taking on the matter of public toilets, relating to street people defecating in public.
Meyer challenged laws banning women from going topless in 2000, after she was charged with violating a city bylaw against baring her breasts at the city pool. She took the fight all the way to the Supreme Court of B.C., and won.
Now Meyer has a new cause.
"I was walking past the Dairy Queen, and there was a guy defecating in public, with his pants around his ankles, and anyone walking by could see," she said. "That really bothered me."
She started talking to people about the issue, and making inquiries.
She learned some homeless people have been banned from going to Haney Place Mall altogether. They are not welcome to use the loos at many local businesses 鈥� many have a customers-only policy. Facilities that serve this population, like The Hub and Salvation Army, are not open 24-7.
Now she's mapped out all the local public toilets, and prepared a speech to give before Maple Ridge city council. She's on the agenda on Nov. 26, and expects to be taken seriously.
"It's about two things 鈥� it's about human dignity for those people, and it's about public health," said Meyer.
She noted that poor sanitation can cause outbreaks of disease like typhus, "which is common knowledge."
Meyer plans to tell council the city must provide 24/7 access to portable flush toilets, primarily for homeless people. She said the facilities should also contain menstrual products.
"If they don't do something, I'm going to the provincial government, and the minister of health," she said. "This issue is ubiquitous 鈥� it's everywhere."
The City of Vancouver has grappled with the issue in the Downtown Eastside. A year ago, the city asked the province for $3.8 million to provide washrooms for homeless people. Of that, more than $1.5 million was for a portable washroom trailer at the Astoria hotel that had 150-200 visitors per day. The city announced in July it is funding the washrooms internally.
In April 2023, New Westminster released a report prepared by the UBC School of Community and Regional Planning, and one of the five areas it addressed was 24-hour public toilets. It mentioned the need for all washrooms to have menstrual products, sharps containers, and sanitary disposal bins, and recommended city loos be open 24 hours wherever possible.
That report also recommended New West develop a city-wide washroom strategy, and "prioritize washrooms as a human right."
When she fought for a woman's right to go topless in 2000, Meyer was handcuffed, arrested, and held in police custody for 24 hours on at least six occasions.
She asserts that citizens must fight for principles.
On a Sunday this month, she visited the Maple Ridge Leisure Centre to sit in the hot tub for an aching shoulder, and she went topless.
