Recommendations aimed at protecting Winnipeg’s rooming houses at city council Tuesday

WINNIPEG — A new set of bylaws are set to come to the table at city council on Tuesday. The bylaws will look at putting in more protections for Winnipegger’s living in rooming houses.

Bonita Jarrow has lived in a rooming house for five years and said she wants to see her conditions turn around.

She lost a loved one in a rooming house fire that happened last year on Austin Street North and the fear of that happening to her haunts her everyday.

READ MORE: Rooming house safety concerns resurface after deadly Austin St N fire

“I had family members die in that one that was in Austin. That was scary,” Bonita Jarrow said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I had family members die in that one that was in Austin. That was scary," Bonita Jarrow said.

The bylaws around fire inspection haven’t seen any major changes in over a decade, but last year that changed.

In November, it was approved that Winnipeg first inspectors would visit licensed rooming houses with shared washrooms and kitchens at least once a year to check smoke detectors and the conditions in hopes of avoiding fatal fires in the future.

READ MORE: Fire department to inspect more rooming houses in Winnipeg

On Tuesday, the second phase of bylaw changes will be before city council.

Sel Burrows is a local community activist and he said these changes are something he believes should have been in place long ago.

“It’s sort of the most basic thing for the second most vulnerable people in Winnipeg,” Sel Burrows said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's sort of the most basic thing for the second most vulnerable people in Winnipeg," Sel Burrows said.

Some of the changes that will be brought forward are focused on placing a bigger bite on unlicensed rooming houses.

Alex Forrest with the Winnipeg Firefighters Union said stricter enforcement and an increase in fines is the key to saving lives.

Sel Burrows also said fire inspectors and bylaw inspectors have come up with a cross training system where both will be trained to do inspections that the other can do in order to keep things efficient in the system.

Also proposed are new requirements and a scheduled inspection program for food trucks that use propane or gar fired appliances.

According to the report that will be on the table at City Council on Tuesday, there is currently no program in place to ensure these units are being safely operated in Winnipeg, including the mandatory installation of explosive gas and carbon monoxide detectors.

There is also a proposal to ban sky lanterns that are sometimes lit and released at weddings or other special occasions.