The following editorial appeared in the June 25 edition of the Guelph Mercury:
Guelph Councillor Ian Findlay is on to something when he suggests many of the outspoken critics of a proposal to pilot public urinals downtown are unlikely to see them if they come.
As he says, these folks are not likely active in the downtown bar scene or aware of what a problem public urination is.
Seemingly, Guelph council is — at least after its vigorous review and debate of the public urinals proposal this month.
That’s why its handling of this matter is confounding.
If council is much troubled by the leaks of the post-bar crowd and others and if it regards this notion as worthy of a pilot, it should fund it and try it out.
Its position instead — of endorsing the tryout but not funding it — smacks of too much politicking.
Much criticism directed at this idea centred on the incongruity of using tax dollars to collect urine and have it disposed of in this manner. To be certain, other critics were put off by other elements. But council seems to have had a greater ear for the howls over public funding. Or, perhaps, it has hatched a savvy way to appear invested in the issue — without having to do something significant about it. After all, the likelihood of the urinals being bankrolled by the bars and other hospitality players — even on a trial basis — as council has suggested, is unlikely at best.
Pilot projects that succeed become policies. A bar-backed public urine sanitation system would strike the tavern operators as a tariff. It would be a form of a bar-stool tax by another name.
Council should have sent this back to the night life task force and civic administration for more options.
Perhaps industry stakeholders will have a less-exotic notion when the option may be cutting a cheque for a public pissoir.
Who knows, maybe they’ll even try to make their own washrooms more accessible for a more discreet remedy to the problem.