Heat wave gives rise to calls for increased city cooling resources

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This article was published 06/06/2023 (871 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An early, record-setting heat wave has prompted calls for more public cooling centres in Winnipeg, especially in core neighbourhoods or areas with higher populations of vulnerable people.

For those with nowhere to go or limited means, there aren’t enough barrier-free places to escape extreme heat, said downtown resident Janet Jandrew, while sitting under a tree Tuesday in Air Canada Window Park.

The shade offered a break from her sweltering apartment suite, which doesn’t have air conditioning, amid a heat warning issued by Environment Canada.

“It gets really hot, like just as hot as it is out here,” Jandrew, who was clutching a hand fan, said as the temperature approached 30 C around noon.

The directors of two outreach groups — CommUNITY 204 and St. Boniface Street Links — agreed there is a need for additional cooling centres when temperatures soar.

Currently, Winnipeggers can cool off at city-run leisure centres and libraries during regular operating hours. Some libraries are closed on weekends or Sundays.

Four community centres — Bronx Park, East Elmwood, Luxton and Riverview — are being used as summer cooling spaces during certain hours.

The city has set up three hydration stations — in Central Park, at the Broadway Neighbourhood Centre, and at Selkirk Avenue and Powers Street — and it opened most spray pads and wading pools earlier than usual.

Mayor Scott Gillingham said the city is talking to the General Council of Community Centres about whether there is a need for more sites to be used as cooling spaces.

Regarding the possibility of expanding library hours on weekends, the mayor said he is always open to discussing how to provide adequate places to cool off.

He said the city is working with homeless shelters to ensure needs are met.

Council will soon vote on spending $1 million to set up more 24-hour safe spaces for vulnerable people. Of that, $250,000 would be given to St. Boniface Street Links to provide spaces east of the Red River.

The site will help people cope with extreme heat or cold.

City hall is also exploring a new alert system to warn the public about extreme hot or cold weather.

Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 500 president Gord Delbridge is not opposed to expanding library hours during heat waves, as long as appropriate staffing is in place.

Resources for splash pads and wading pools, which are important in the inner city, must be protected, he said. “In harsh economic times, not everyone can get to a beach.”

For the city, cooling or warming centres are a lot to take on, said Delbridge, who believes the province could provide some additional help.

A spokeswoman for the Manitoba government said local authorities are responsible for leading heat response but the Emergency Management Organization is available to provide support, upon request.

There have been no requests for help this year, she added.

Jandrew said people can encounter a number of barriers while looking for an indoor public space which has cooler air.

She occasionally visits Millennium Library, which has had tighter security measures since a fatal stabbing in December. Some malls, restaurants or coffee shops discourage people from sitting inside if they aren’t purchasing something, Jandrew added.

Other barriers can include the cost of transportation or admission fees for some facilities.

Daniel Hidalgo of CommUNITY 204 and Marion Willis of St. Boniface Street Links said the city is moving in the right direction to help people who are at greater risk during bouts of extreme heat or cold.

Both have seen the impacts of the latest heat wave, including heat-related illnesses and injuries. People who are experiencing homelessness are particularly vulnerable, they said.

Cooling centres must be accessible to them and others in need, including people who cannot afford luxuries such as air conditioning units for their homes, said Hidalgo.

He believes people are more likely to visit a cooling or warming centre if it has incentives such as a television, activities or tables and chairs where people can sit and chat.

Outreach groups have been handing out bottles of water, operating hydration stations and tending to other weather-specific needs during the heat wave.

Willis said heat-related illnesses or injuries have increased, along with drug use and overdoses, on the east side of the Red, where there supports are lacking.

“When you don’t have the services to serve people, sometimes the outcomes can be pretty devastating,” she said.

Willis said some people put themselves in dangerous situations, such as wading into the city’s rivers, to cool off.

A Shared Health spokeswoman said 28 people went to Winnipeg hospitals for heat-related reasons between May 28 and June 4, compared with four people during the same period in 2022.

Other cities activate additional cooling centres or provide summer-long access to help people beat the heat.

Toronto’s relief network has more than 400 publicly accessible places with air-conditioning or other forms of cooling or respite all summer.

Environment Canada meteorologist Samantha Mauti said Winnipeg set a new record high for June 3, when the temperature hit 33.2 C.

The previous mark of 32.8 C was set in 1968.

Mauti said the hot and humid spell is set to end, with daytime highs to be closer to the seasonal normal of 23 C later this week. However, temperatures of 30 C are expected next week, she said.

Environment Canada is predicting a warmer than normal summer for the Winnipeg region.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching