SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A Yellowknife man says he is at wit's end over what to do about a cockroach infestation in his apartment. Richard Shushack has lived in Hudson House apartments on 49 Street since May 2013. The bugs, he said, were a problem when he moved in and it has not gotten any better.

The building is owned by Northview Apartment REIT, formerly Northern Property. Shushack said his unit has had almost 50 exterminator treatments since he has lived there, including earlier this month.

"It's just been going on and on. Every two to three weeks they bring up this exterminator company out of Alberta. We have to empty all our cupboards, our drawers in the kitchen, everything out of the bathroom," Shushack said.

"Then they bring in this ... cockroach bait gel. They apply with a syringe to all the cracks in the cupboards and drawers, those kinds of places ... The bugs are supposed to come and pick the bait up and take it back to their nests. But these guys only do the apartments that people are complaining about. When they lay down the bait the bugs just go elsewhere. Two or three days later after the poison has dried up ... they just come back."

Shushack said that he is tiring of this scenario and added he does not have the time to go through the process of emptying everything out of drawers and cupboards and then putting it all back again every few weeks. He said he has spoken to at least three other extermination companies in the south and they told him that what the current exterminators are doing simply isn't working.

"They would go a different route. They would have everybody move out for 48 hours and they would use this spray that they use for commercial places down south. It would solve the problem," Shushack said. "The amount of money that the landlord must be spending - they should have done it properly in the first place and it would have been solved. They wouldn't have to pay this company to come all the way up here."

Shushack sat down with rental officer Adelle Guigon and a representative from Northview at the NWT Rental Office for a hearing last month. Guigon said a decision on what should happen next will be made this week. She said any changes to the NWT Residential Tenancies Act dealing with insect infestation would have to be made through the legislative assembly. However, Guigon said that does not mean landlords do not have to address the insect issue.

"There is an obligation under ... the act for a landlord to maintain the rental premises in a good state of repair and fit for habitation as well as in compliance with other legislation concerning health and safety," she said.

It is not clear whether her decision would force the landlord to do more to eradicate the cockroach problem.

This is not the first time Shushack has contacted Yellowknifer with the same cockroach complaint.

A little less than a year ago he invited a reporter over to his spotless apartment and sure enough two of the bugs were spotted, trapped beneath a pot lid on the counter. Shushack maintains several other tenants in the building have been experiencing the same problem. His apartment is on the third floor of the four-storey building but he said he has heard from his neighbours that cockroaches are being discovered on multiple floors.

Yellowknifer reached out to Northview for a comment but did not hear back as of press time.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.