Haggard backs ‘robo toilets’

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City Councillor Deb Haggard was forced to fight for the robo toilets she received for free from the City of Calgary.

City staff recomended not accepting the toilets, even though they’re on trailers waiting to be brought to Port Alberni.

The two, large, steel, self-cleaning washroom facilities were unfit for prairie winters, so Haggard was able to negotiate for them at a recent Federation of Canadian Municipalities meeting.

“Because it was such a great deal – free – you can’t get any greater deal than that,” she said. “So let’s get them here. One day we’ll have the money to fund them and that was for both, but these are fantastic washrooms and I think we would really regret not getting them into our community so that’s why I had to fight back.”

Haggard said the city doesn’t have to hook them both up immediately, and can take a staggered approach to installing them.

Suggested locations include Paper Mill Dam, along the Quay-to-Quay pathway, and lower 4th Avenue.

She said the units are worth more than $100,000 each and will cost $11,000 to bring here, $40,000 to install, and $30,000 a year to operate.

According to a 2022 article in the Calgary Herald, the two units cost more than $325,000 and were shut due to operating costs and safety concerns.