Sandra Walsh was struggling to breathe in her apartment when temperatures in Nueva Scotia shot in July, but the social assistance woman says that her supplications for an air conditioning financed by the government have been ignored.
“With high humidity, it affects my breathing and I have to gasp for air,” says the 46 -year -old woman, recently diagnosed with progressive lung disease. “Even drinking cold and cold showers is not really helping.”
The New Glasgow resident, NS, is among many low -income Canadians with health conditions that fight to obtain government help to stay fresh. She wants to buy an air conditioning of $ 300, but that would leave her with little money for food or medicines.
Until Wednesday, Walsh said that more than two months had passed since he asked for money from his social work assistance worker to pay an air conditioning. She said she has made the same request every summer since 2020, but has been rejected.
Similar struggles for what defenders call the “right to cooling” are gaining attention throughout the country.
‘Right to cooling’
Tenant groups argue that sometimes CA units are required to prevent disease and death, and some experts ask for broader solutions that may include public cooling centers.
Last year, another New Glasgow resident, Julie Leggett, won an appeal before a judge who decided that the province had to pay an air conditioning due to its chronic pain condition. But the failure only applies to Leggett.
The New Scotland Social Development Department said in a recent statement that its policy of refusing to cover the cost of air conditioners for low -income people with health conditions has not changed.
“In situations in which health risks are worsened by extreme heat, social workers can send local beneficial organizations such as San Vicente de Paul or Iglesias,” said a spokeswoman for the department in an email.
Meanwhile, the province says that new Scotland efficiency, a non -profit energy conservation utility, can help owners buy heat pumps for affordable homes.
Leggett says that these solutions are not always available for people living in poverty.
“The province should not try to boost its legal obligations to non -profit organizations that are already to the fullest,” he wrote in an email.
‘It’s very, very expensive for me’
In Ottawa, where temperatures fired in mid -July, the inhabitant of the 75 -year -old apartments, Marie Lourdes Garnier, said that provincial governments should help low -income tenants to buy airs conditioned.
She said her apartment was suffocating during a recent heat wave, adding that in recent weeks she became fainted despite the fact that she continuously splashed cold water into her head.
A spokesman for the Ontario government said that people in income assistance can request an air conditioning when municipal programs or the first nations allow it. In addition, people with disabilities can apply through the Ontario Disabilities Support Program, and the city of Toronto recently began offering a pilot program for low -income elderly.
Garnier, who lives in a small pension, is not eligible for these programs because he is not receiving income assistance.
“It’s very, very expensive for me … [and] I’m not talking about [needing an AC unit] For comfort. It is a matter of life and death. “
Last year, a low -income tenant defense group known as Acorn discovered that an “insignificant proportion” of their membership received public funds to buy an air conditioning or a heat bomb. The majority of the 737 people who responded to a survey reported bad dream, fatigue and headaches of excessive inner heat.
Emergency departments See heat -related visits
In Moncton, NB, Peter Jongenelen, Vice President of Acorn New Brunswick, said that during a recent heat wave, he was admitted in an emergency room because he suffered from heat exhaustion.
He said that people living with disability pensions need help. “[but] There are no real programs in New Brunswick. It’s something we would like to change. “
Meanwhile, the number of people who appear in emergency rooms with heat -related problems continue to increase. Last month, Health Canada reported that this type of case increased from approximately 600 in 2004 to approximately 1,100 in 2023.
In British Columbia, where a “heat dome” in the summer of 2021 caused 600 deaths, the province committed $ 30 million in 2023 for a free air conditioning program managed by BC Hydro. Since then, around 27,500 units of CA have been installed, said the public services company.
Even so, the British Columbia University researcher, Liv Yoon, says the program has faced challenges. Some owners, for example, have said that their buildings simply cannot withstand the air conditioning.
Yoon, co -author of a report entitled “A Right to Cool,” said there is a need for public cooling centers and access to free public transport to reach them. The report also requires the creation of affordable housing that includes passive shadow systems to reduce inner heat.
Solutions other than AC
Alex Boston, an urban planner and consultant based in BC, said the air conditioners may be necessary for some low -income tenants, but other solutions are often available.
Interior temperatures can be lowered using window tones and fans, he said in an interview. Simple shading and air movement can decrease interior temperatures by up to 10 C, he said.
In New Glasgow, Walsh said that tones and fans could help.
“But a negative [of assistance] It would mean that I would suffer and could not breathe with extreme heat, which can cause death, “he said.
