Sask. government accused of mismanaging housing, called out for mouse infestations, explosions

Kosowska lives in an affordable housing apartment in Saskatoon run by the Saskatoon Housing Authority and said she has been dealing with rodents since 2018.

Monday afternoon, official Opposition Leader Carla Beck and social services critic Meara Conway called out the Sask. Party for what they said was mismanagement of the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation.

“In a resource-rich province like ours, every Saskatchewan resident should have a roof over their head,” said Beck. “With 3,000 empty units and people struggling with homelessness across Saskatchewan, making housing safer and more accessible is a no-brainer.”

The official Opposition was joined at the legislature by Dominika Kosowska, who spoke to Global News earlier this month about her mouse-infested apartment, operated by the Saskatchewan Housing Authority.

Kosowska lives in an affordable housing apartment in Saskatoon run by the Saskatoon Housing Authority and said she has been dealing with rodents since 2018. She explained that the only solution that maintenance would offer in the beginning was to set more traps.

“I was the one who sealed and patched the entire apartment. I’m the one who changes the snap traps and put them in the vents and everything. Sask Housing has not done anything besides putting more snap traps,” said Kosowska.

“Relocation is not always an option for myself, an immigrant and single mother. I spent the last seven years building the safety net in the community, in the place that I live. I don’t have family here, I don’t have any support.”

Kosowska said she was denied the opportunity to rent other apartments in her area.

“Despite the fact that they have available places in East View, they would not put me there because they said it is a three-bedroom and ‘you don’t need such a big place,'” said Kosowska, “so they found me a two-bedroom on the other side of the city.