A resident’s concerns.
I am writing concerning two entirely different topics.
Firstly, with the incredibly nice weather yesterday, out like crocuses came the downtown canvassers. I confess that I have not missed those blue-vested sidewalk solicitors, and I was reminded why as I was approached for donations each of the five or six times I passed through St. George’s Square yesterday afternoon. I respect the freedom of speech of Canadians, but these canvassers are a true nuisance. I am embarrassed to say that last summer, I actually started avoiding the Square because I didn’t want to be bothered by them. This, despite the fact that I work downtown and have to walk from one side to the other every day. Who can I complain to about this?
Secondly, with the incredibly *terrible* weather today, I see that the limit for a residential plow-out has been reached and the entire city will be getting done over the next little while. I would just like to comment that I would fully support a by-law permitting the city to designate no-parking time zones after a storm to allow a full and proper plowing of the city’s streets. I think it’s actually kind of strange that we don’t have such a by-law already. It’s sad to watch the plows going up and down the roads, dodging cars and leaving piles of snow that really never get cleaned up afterwards. I think everyone should just park off-road after a storm and let the plow operators do their work. I’ve seen them do this in Montreal, at times with rather short notice, and it works very well there.
I would actually be much more in support of this than the current and somewhat arbitrary ban on nighttime parking in the fall and winter months. I got dinged for parking on the street in October this year when there wasn’t a flake on the ground, but as it stands, folks can just leave their cars on the street all day during a major snow event. I would propose that both situations are ripe for revisiting.
Thanks for taking the time to read.