The family of a young Victoria man whose body was found in a recycling truck 10 days ago is pushing for changes that would force businesses to install locks on their dumpsters.
“What’s the downside? Why is it a big deal?” the man’s aunt, Dorothy Jeffrey, asked Friday. “That’s what my sister keeps coming back to. ‘It’s just a lock on a bin. It could have saved my son.’ ”
The identity of the man, who had been living on the streets for about five years, has not been made public.
His body was discovered on the morning of Nov. 12 when a recycling truck returned to Waste Connections of Canada on Keating Cross Road in Central Saanich. The truck had picked up the contents of about six recycling bins in downtown Victoria.
His family is frustrated that nothing has been done to prevent this kind of incident, the second one in Victoria in two years.
On Friday, Jeffrey picked up the phone and called Michael Tripp, district manager of Waste Connections. She told him who she was and asked what action he would take to make sure this didn’t happen again.
“He swallowed and said: ‘I can’t tell you that. … We’re dealing with WCB. We’re dealing with traumatized employees. We’re dealing with this and it’s going to be a while.’ ”
Jeffrey said they agreed she would call him in a month to see what changes are made in the meantime.
Jeffrey also texted Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps and talked to her chief of staff, Alison James, on Friday afternoon. They also agreed to talk at a future date.
“I’m just grasping at straws trying to help the memory of my nephew and trying to do something positive,” said Jeffrey.
In an interview, Helps expressed her “heartfelt sadness” to the family.
“As I see it, there are two tragedies,” she said.
“One, that this person was homeless and felt the only safe place was in a garbage bin. I mean that reflects poorly on all of us as Canadians. To me, that’s the first tragedy and then, of course, the second tragedy is the way in which he died.”
But Helps said the onus for preventing such deaths rests with business, rather than government.
“My strong opinion is that the private sector is innovative, creative, noble, wants to find solutions,” she said. “Some people are calling for the city to create a regulatory regime to regulate the locking of garbage bins. It takes a long time for the city to create regulatory regimes. I think the best, and quickest and safest solution is for the companies, who have these bins, to come up with some solution.
“People want solutions quickly and the private sector can deliver ideas and solutions way more quickly than the city can.”
Grant McKenzie, director of communications for Our Place, said the real solution is to open more places for people to stay.
“You could lock down the bins, but if anybody wants to get in, they’re going to get in,” he said.
“I mean, really, the big thing is we need more shelter beds for people. People are choosing to sleep in a bin because they can’t find a shelter bed, so we just need more shelter space. There’s housing on the horizon, but that’s years down the road.”
Langford Mayor Stew Young, who was involved in the waste disposal business for years, agreed. He said companies could lock bins or install alarms or better lighting in alleys to deter people from climbing into the bins.
But, ultimately, the best solution would be to prevent people from seeking out the bins in the first place, he said. “Getting people help is going to be better,” he said. “A solution to why they’re doing that in the first place is really where we should go.”
Tripp declined comment Friday. He issued an earlier statement saying the death is a tragedy for the man and his family, and that counselling services have been provided to all employees involved.
“Our driver is currently taking time off to recover, but will be returning to work shortly,” the statement said. “Our hearts go out to all who were impacted by this tragedy.”
— Lindsay Kines, Louise Dickson, Times Colonist. With a file from Roxanne Egan-Elliott
