Pat Martin, an NDP MP from Manitoba, is knocking at Ottawa’s door to coordinate a bed bug attack plan. Will Ottawa answer? Will the Canadian voter demand an answer?
Martin’s motion calls for a national overview of the bed bug problem and subsequent eradication proposals. There is no doubt, a comprehensive study of the problem is needed, from which, hopefully, an intelligent attack plan would flow.
The Americans have made some moves in that direction – the US Centre for Disease control awarded a New Jersey university $100, 000 for an educational outreach program, the University of Missouri-St. Louis has $89,000 from the US Environmental Protection Agency for bed bug research and outreach; not to mention what the leading private pest control companies must have invested in R&D to develop the ‘silver bed bug bullet’. The list seems to grow every day and these are only the latest dollar figures thrown at the bed bug problem.
And where is the Canadian effort? Ontario led the way, in January, with $5 million for public health agencies and an awareness campaign. Other provinces nor the federal government have followed. There is no sound of public coins tossed at the bed bug problem; only the sound of bed bugs sucking on their latest meal in Canadian cities across the land (okay, artistic license taken – bed bugs do NOT make a sucking noise while feeding).
