Bothersome bedbugs reach Yukon | Yukon News

Think the Yukon is safe from the scourge of bedbugs because of our cold climate?

Think again.

The bloodsuckers have tormented Sherrill Armstrong, a social housing tenant who lives on the second floor of 408 Alexander Street in Whitehorse, since July.

As if that werent bad enough, Armstrong also had to worry about a threatening letter sent to her by the Yukon Housing Corporation, which owns the building. It warns her that she owes $711 for fumigation costs and the disposal of her bug-ridden bed.

Thats a lot of money for someone on a fixed income, such as Armstrong.

Failure to make arrangements to pay this amount by January 18, 2011 may result in a termination of your tenancy, warns the January 4 letter.

Armstrong never replied. Im not paying for something I cant control, she said.

Thankfully, the housing corporation has since stood down on its threat, following a phone call from the Yukon News.

The corporation typically charges tenants for the cost of damage to units, said housing corporation spokesperson Nathalie Ouellet.

But, given the ambiguous nature of a bedbug infestation, theyve decided to suspend the fee until the corporation sorts out how to deal with bedbug problems, she said.

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Bothersome bedbugs reach Yukon | Yukon News