Teslin library remains open despite mould infestation
Last Updated: Friday, November 28, 2008 | 1:58 PM CT
CBC News
Some residents in the southern Yukon village of Teslin say they don't understand why the community library remains open in a building that's contaminated with black mould.
The local post office and TD Canada Trust branch moved out of the library building this fall, but town librarian Claudia Hubert said she's been told she'll be staying in the mould-infested building until at least March.
"I have headaches every time when I'm here for a whole day," Hubert told CBC News. "I can feel it."
Past tenants in the building, which is owned by the Village of Teslin, have long complained of headaches and fatigue when they were inside.
"I would have headaches, water eyes; my nose would run," said Joanne Brown, who ran the post office there for eight years.
Brown said her health began to be affected three years ago by mould in the basement, adding that she felt "very lethargic" and had difficulty breathing.
She raised the issue with Canada Post, and environmental testing was done on the building in September 2007.
A month later, the village sent the post office, bank and library a letter stating that they had one year to find a new location. The bank moved out in September, and the post office moved in mid-October.
But Brown said she cannot believe the Yukon government's libraries branch would leave Hubert in the mouldy building.
"I'm basically still in shock over the fact that she still has to be in there, considering that we had 13 months; they gave us 13 months' notice," Brown said.
"And that was not enough for [Yukon] Libraries and Archives to get their ducks in a row and get somebody moved out of a place that has been deemed unsafe."
Teslin Mayor Robin Smarch has refused to comment on the issue. The Yukon government did not return calls by CBC News on the matter this week.
Hubert said no one has told her anything about the building's current condition, but she's been told she'll be staying in there until March.
"I don't know what they're doing, which repairs they are doing, and what the plan is," she said. "I just know that I'm staying here for another five months."
Share Tools
Latest North News Headlines
- Head of Nunavut Impact Review Board not re-appointed
- John Duncan, the minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, has decided against a recommendation by the Nunavut Impact Review Board to re-appoint its chair, Lucassie Arragutainaq. more »
- Cambridge Bay airport runway to be widened
- The airport runway in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, will be widened to meet safety standards, says Nunavut's deputy minister for Economic Development and Transportation. more »
- Rankin Inlet gets CanNor cash for port business plan
- Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, is getting almost $28,000 from the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency to put towards a business plan for a port. more »
- Yukoners need to change poverty perceptions, says report
- A new report on poverty in Yukon is calling for action from the territorial government. However, poverty activists are also calling for Yukoners to adjust their attitudes. more »
Top News Headlines
- Canadian woman continues tweeting her way to the top of Everest
- Sandra Leduc is taking a second run at Mount Everest's summit after a deadly storm forced her back down the mountain and killed four others on Sunday. The Canadian lawyer and government worker is tweeting her progress along the way. more »
- Employment Insurance review boards to be scrapped
- The federal government is scrapping two review boards used by people appealing decisions made about their employment insurance. more »
- Teens share bullying tales in confession booth
- Raw stories about bullying emerged when a video booth was set up inside a Quebec high school. more »
- Canada ending 'Buffalo shuffle' for visas, closing consulate
- The federal government is shutting the Canadian consulate in Buffalo less than two years after costly renovations, while dropping a requirement for visas to be renewed outside the country, CBC News has learned. more »
- Investigation finds 3 electoral violations in N.W.T. riding
- Iqaluit man pleads guilty to drug and sex offences
- Head of Nunavut Impact Review Board not re-appointed
- Yukoners need to change poverty perceptions, says report
- Whitehorse man appeals drunk driving conviction
- N.W.T. budget calls for $74M surplus
- N.W.T. commissioner's goals for the territory
- Nunavut communities seek cellphone service
- Winning lottery ticket sold in Whitehorse

