How a long, cruel, winter is driving some people into a snow rage
A whopping forty centimeters of snow fell on St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador this week -- burying houses and clogging streets.
Snow rage has consumed St. John's, and not only because there's been so much of it. Pedestrians who haven't been able to find bare pavement to walk on this winter are livid. Residents turned up at St. John's city hall to protest the state of the sidewalks.
• A recent history of snowclearing in St. John's --CBC News
The city of St. John's is promising a review of its snow clearing practices... but only in time for next winter.
To explain who is legally responsible for clearing snowy sidewalks, we spoke to Bob Aaron. He is a real estate lawyer with the firm Aaron & Aaron in Toronto.
For many, blocked or icy sidewalks aren't an inconvenience, they're a real danger. Doctors say they're treating more injuries this winter as a result of sidewalks slips.
Sooner or later, if you don't have a properly cleared sidewalk and with the right salt or sand or chips or something on there, it's so easy to fall. And we're seeing it in all age groups, which was amazing, because usually it's something you see in seniors, but we were seeing it in young people as well. Dr. Louis Francescutti, ER physician at Edmonton's Royal Alexandra Hospital
Cities across Canada have adopted different punishments to get people to clear their sidewalks of snow. Saskatoon and others have a snitch-line where residents can complain about people who don't clear their sidewalks. But the city of Regina set up an incentive program that hands out an award to a resident who has done exceptional work shoveling snow.
Kathy Mohr is the winner of this year'sSnow Buster program. She says she started clearing her neighbour's sidewalks, in addition to her own, when her neighbour got sick.
Barry Wellar is in a unique position to comment on the rights and wrongs of sidewalk snow clearing. He is the author of the Walking Security Index for the Ottawa-Carleton region, and the city of Ottawa. His Index informed Toronto's "Pedestrian Charter" and his walking principles have set legal precedent when pedestrians have been injured on city sidewalks. Barry Wellar is also a professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa. He was in our Ottawa studio.
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This segment was produced by CBC St. John's Network Producer Marie Wadden and The Current's Josh Bloch and Peter Mitton.
We asked you to send us your winter rage photos by using #snowrageCBC and you did!