I don't think having a Montreal-style snow removal corps is a good use of resources for a city that got almost no snow last year but I also wouldn't call the response of the last ten days an unqualified success either
I think this is probably the correct take. Specific issues include a failure by Police to tow vehicles and failures with downtown sidewalk clearing, which is done by city staff.
Chow – and everybody else apparently – is buying a narrative from the right that this was a huge screwup and that city staff and management are culpable. I would like to see a bit of nuance and patience here.
Chow said she was told by staff that "100 per cent of the sidewalk had been plowed". They must be relying on unusual meaning of the words "100 per cent", "sidewalk", or "plowed".
So even if everything else is being done well enough, being misled here might reduce her trust in staff.
I agree with you that it is not obvious that substantially more resources in terms of equipment and hours should be invested. And I also don't think it's as much of a disaster as some say (often in the same breadth as complaining about "high" property taxes).
But I also think they can do a much better job in some areas with similar current resources, it makes sense to have the Auditor General look into this, and I look forward to seeing their analysis and recommendations.
This also all seems to lay the groundwork for blaming much of this on a poorly-drafted contract with private contractors, rather than city staff en masse.
Also, it would be great to see equal ire when it comes to the maintenance of city parks, which is a chronic long-term failure and where city staff are clearly culpable.
I think part of the furor is that we're simply not used to significant snowfall, these days. The last time we saw this kind of snow event was the infamous state of emergency under Mel Lastman, I think. Prior to that, we were 5 different citites and each did things differently.
Add to this the fact that many Torontonians were not here or alive the last time this happened, and you have a situation that is brand new to some people. So there's a certain amount of shock and confusion. There's also a certain amount of civic behaviour that people haven't had to deal with before.
I'm thinking of failures on the part of drivers to avoid parking on snow-clearing routes, or across streetcar tracks. If this happened every winter, there'd be an annual round of enforcement and towing, and people would get used to moving their cars when there's heavy snow.
I've lost my capacity for nuance and patience when intersections are still not accessible for pedestrians with mobility issues now, 11 days after the significant snowfall.
And it's an election day — I have heard from multiple people that they won't vote because they can't get there.
I would assume that you use a private vehicle to get around. I assure you that walking anywhere, crossing streets at pedestrian crossings or getting on public transit has been very dangerous lately..one shouldn't have to climb a snowbank to cross at the lights.
Comments
Clearly it's not just a case of a freak winter snowstorm and, more likely, another example of the low-tax city.
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/mayor-olivia-chow-calls-for-review-of-controversial-snow-removal-contracts-it-is-not-working/article_67d2d752-f2e4-11ef-a809-c36b0bdb07b4.html
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/cement-truck-snow-plows-1.6584529?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar
Wrong story link.
This one.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/city-snowclearing-deal-vote-1.6288693?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar
https://bsky.app/profile/postbrechtian.bsky.social/post/3lj63mxje3s2t
So even if everything else is being done well enough, being misled here might reduce her trust in staff.
And it's an election day — I have heard from multiple people that they won't vote because they can't get there.