The video shows an old, low-ceilinged basement, the dirt floor flooded with black and brown sludge. A broken cast-iron pipe is visible — the source of a leak spewing raw sewage into the basement of a home in New Glasgow, N.S., for about a year.
Tricia Gallant, 38, was living upstairs in one of the three rental units, experiencing nausea, dizzy spells, sinus infections and brain fog.
She had an inkling there was a problem, but didn’t realize her home was dangerous.
“When I moved into that place, I was living in my car,” Gallant said in an interview. “So I thought it was going to save me, when in reality it just made me sick.”
Gallant’s living conditions are an extreme example of how low-income tenants stuck in unfit housing can suffer physically and psychologically as they struggle to get repairs and keep a roof over their head. A recent CBC News investigation found renters living in dangerous, dilapidated housing are up against unresponsive landlords and a lack of protective bylaws.
@girlfreddy the problem is up here in New Brunswick as well. Yes, many landlords can be negligent; but I observed that a lot of water and sewage infrastructure was poorly made back in the 1970s especially. condemnation must widen
We should have known slapped together cars and trucks of the malais era. poor quality extended into building materials and beyond. Even today manufacturers like Boeing will try to slip through substandard parts. Instead of fixing the problems, they send lawyers.
1970s may not even be about shoddy quality but that 50+y is well over the normal lifespan of most construction. Maintenance and renovation of stuff that old is expected.