written by Dale Budd
In these uncertain economic times it seems almost unthinkable that the Saskatchewan Government would back a concerted attack by the Prince Albert Parkland Regional Health Authority on senior’s housing in rural communities. In fact, it seems pretty hard to comprehend why the PAPHR would be involved in an initiative that punishes anybody for the crime of living in an older house in a rural community. The PAPHR – in its infinite wisdom – has decided that all homeowners living within 1 kilometer of a subdivision must comply with the plumbing regulations laid out in the 1994 Health Act. They have declared that all sewage systems within these areas that do not meet the requirements of the 1994 Health Act’s Plumbing Regulations are considered non-compliant and must be replaced at the owners expense. The PAPHR has deliberately chosen to ignore three major factors in its draconian enforcement policies:
1) If you look at the demographics of who exactly lives in older homes in rural communities you will find that it is mostly senior citizens. They are penalizing the most vulnerable segment of our population – demanding that they replace perfectly safe and functional lagoon and jet pump systems that have functioned safely for twenty to thirty years with mound systems that will cost them upwards of $15,000.
2) They are ignoring the 1994 Health Act itself which contains a grandfathering clause which clearly states: Section 46(2) “Notwithstanding any Act or law, any regulations made pursuant to this Act may be made retroactive to a day not earlier than the day on which this Act comes into force.”
3) They are operating outside of their own legal jurisdiction. The Plumbing and Drainage Regulations states that (3) In these regulations, a reference to a local authority with respect to a plumbing system or a private sewage works is a reference to the local authority that has jurisdiction over the area in which the plumbing system or private sewage works is to be established, constructed, extended, renovated, altered, repaired or connected to a communal sewage works or communal waterworks.
None of the recent activities of the PAPHR in the Belbutte community have fallen within these parameters.
So what does the PAPHR think it is doing?
Basically what has happened is that the PAPHR has decided – with the full backing of the Minister of Health and the Saskatchewan Government – that it can simply cry “Walkerton and North Battleford” and suspend all civil liberties.
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Cecile Hunt, the PAPHR’s CEO has stated that: “…the region must exercise due diligence to act upon issues that may potentially present a public health hazard to a given community.” Dr. Leo Lanoie, Medical Health Officer for the PAPHR has personally told me that the Authority is liable for any ‘potential’ health hazards that may exist in our community.
I think that the PAPHR should seriously consider what else it is liable for in the Belbutte community.
1) In a letter dated May 26, 2008 the PAPHR has sent my wife and I a letter threatening us with a search warrant to search our property for health hazards.
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Section 53(4) reads: A justice of the peace or a judge of the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan may issue a warrant authorizing a public health officer to enter and search any place or premises or search any vehicle named in the warrant where the public health officer believes, on reasonable grounds, that: (a) an offence against this Act has been or is being committed and there is evidence of the offence to be found in the place, premises or vehicle proposed to be searched; or (b) a condition, substance, agent or thing: (i) is present in the place, premises or vehicle proposed to be searched; and(ii) is causing or is likely to cause, or is contributing to or is likely to contribute to, a serious public health threat.
We have pointed out to PAPHR that because our sewage system was constructed in the 1970’s – it is protected under Section 46(2) the grandfather clause and therefore there are no violations of the Health Act on our property.
We have also pointed out to PAPHR that under the Definition of terms in the Health Act – the terms ‘Health Hazard’ and ‘Serious Health Threat’ may not be used interchangeably.
“health hazard” means:(i) a condition of premises;(ii) a solid, liquid or gaseous substance, a combination of substances ora combination of different states of a substance;(iii) a thing; (iv) a plant; (v) an animal other than a human being; or (vi) a condition, state, agent or process; that is or may become harmful or dangerous to health, that hinders in any manner the suppression of disease or the prevention of injury or that is prescribed as a health hazard;
(jj.1) “serious public health threat” means any of the following, if it poses a significant risk to the health of many people: (i) an occurrence or threat of an occurrence of a communicable disease; (ii) the presence or threat of the presence of: (A) a biological toxin; (B) a chemical agent or radioactive material;
In other words – a ‘Health Hazard’ could be anything from an untied shoelace to a peanut butter sandwich while a ‘Serious Health Threat‘ must pose a significant risk to a number of people. The PAPHR cannot possibly prove that our sewage system poses that kind of risk – especially in this tiny community.
I have proven to the PAPHR that any search warrant produced under the conditions proposed would be a violation of my rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and that even the threat of such a search was a violation of the rights of every citizen who received that letter.
The PAPHR is liable for those actions and is liable for the stress that these unconstitutional actions have caused to members of this community.
2) In an effort to mediate the dispute with the Belbutte community the PAPHR sent my wife and I a letter offering an option for us to sign a waiver accepting responsibility for health hazards on our own property.
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We accepted this offer within the time frame allowed by the PAPHRin a letter dated July 28:
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In this letter I also point out that the government’s policies were “all stick and no carrot” and that if the government were really concerned about private sewage upgrades in rural communities – it would provide grant incentives instead of placing the entire financial burden on rural homeowners.
We were then told in a letter of response that PAPHR’s offer had been withdrawn due to a ‘lack of consensus’ among the Belbutte community.
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In no place, in the June 24, 2008 letter from PAPHR was there a mention of any conditions of consensus in the offer. The Prince Albert Parkland Health Region is therefore guilty of breach of contract with Dale and Laura Budd and guilty of dealing in bad faith with the entire Belbutte community and is liable for that.
Because of this action, the PAPHR has lost the right to carry out any other legal actions against ANY members of the Belbutte community or any one else in the region for that manner.
3) The PAPHR sent a registered letter to Lloyd Johnson on Sept 25 2007 demanding that Lloyd Johnson immediately shut off his neighbor John French’s sewage system.
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We have pointed out that this letter commanded Lloyd Johnson to commit an illegal act and the letter has since been rescinded. However, as the letter was used as part of the PAPHR’s ongoing efforts to block a land transaction between Lloyd Johnson and John French the PAPHR is guilty of illegal obstruction and is liable for any financial costs that Mr. Johnson and Mr. French have incurred due to that action.
4) On April 23 2008, the PAPHR hand delivered a letter to Belbutte senior citizens Mr. and Mrs. Agrey which ordered them to immediately shut off their sewage system.
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The PAPHR also phoned the real estate agency handling the sale of the Agrey’s property and stated that the property could not be sold due to sewage issues. When we pointed out that the PAPHR had no authority to issue such an order – the letter was rescinded. However – the PAPHR is liable for the obstruction of the sale of this property and is liable for all of the costs incurred by the Agreys when they were unable to sell this property so that they could retire to a church owned condo unit in Saskatoon as planned.
5) Since the spring of 2008, the PAPHR has received numerous complaints from members of the Belbutte community that PAPHR enforcement officers were engaging in acts of harassment and intimidation towards members of the Belbutte community and especially towards senior citizens in our community.
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As those accusations have now been proven valid with the rescinding of two orders executed by PAPHR Enforcement officers and because those accusations have been dismissed by senior PAPHR officials paphr220508 – the PAPHR is liable for the harassment and intimidation actions of its officers.
We believe that what has happened in Belbutte is just the tip of the iceberg with regards to what has been happening across the region and that the PAPHR wants desperately to stamp us out before we make them accountable for all of their unconstitutional and illegal actions.
Make no mistake about it. Belbutte is not a shack town with a bunch of faulty sewage systems causing impending health risks. Our community consists mostly of acreages and farm homes within a 1 kilometer radius that were built in the 70’s and 80’s with reliable lagoon and jet pump systems that have operated safely and reliably since their construction. We all have deep wells with at least 100 feet of solid clay separating our drinking water sources from surface contamination. We have carefully monitored our own wells for safety and raised healthy children in this community for 80 years. PAPHR has not received any Notifiable Disease Reports that would warrant an enteric investigation nor have there have been any complaints of violations against the Health Act that would justify any action on their part.
The PAPHR has stated that they now have the full backing of the Minister of Health and the PAPHR’s Board to proceed in enforcing their interpretation of the Plumbing and Drainage Regulations.
I would like to remind the Prince Albert Parkland Health Region Board Members that the senior citizens that are being victimized by the actions that you are backing are the people that you should be protecting! – not from some nebulous ‘potential health hazard’ that may or may not occur from their sewage systems- but from the very real and imminent threat of financial hardship and stress being caused by your own Health Enforcement Officers.
I would like to remind the Minister of Health and the Saskatchewan Government that if they continue to back a questionable policy of enforcement that targets and penalizes rural seniors and working families – I can guarantee that their support from rural Saskatchewan is going to dry up in an awful hurry!
For more details about the actions of the Prince Albert Parkland Health Region’s activies – check out our Video Page and our Chronological Order of Events Page.
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