Well I warn visitors to Montreal that the snow removal people are total cowboys who are irresponsible at best and darn right aggressive at worst. I have to dig out press clippings to prove that they kill someone every winter and after visitors have had the pleasure of some prick ing a mini snow tractor AT them at 60 km/h., they soon realise that snow clearance is best avoided if you'd like to live.
Well this winter they surpass themselves, 4 dead and 3 more months to go. It is pretty clear what that limp dicked mayor needs to do but of course he'll do nothing, because what's a few dead when there are private drives to be cleared...
They even have the nerve to give us instructions on how to assist them. My only interactions with them have shown them to be rude, agressive and ignorant, so I say do what you can to piss them off, like hit the emrgency off button, throw snowballs at them and drive really slowly in front of them..Mind you they might kill you for daring to inconvenience these overpaid morons.
Talking of pavement clearance I want point out that the quality of it depends on where you live. Westmount is a pleasure to go running in on clear ice and snow free pavements and NDG has a 5 inch thick layer of perma-ice welded to the pavement. I am sure if those lazy buggers tried clearing it instead of trying to beat the land speed record for minitractor racing then we could do crazy shit like go for a walk. Perhaps they should be paid on square feet of clear pavement, then they's be pretty cheap. Oh, hang on these are the guys who smashed the windows of the homes of councillors who tried to sue them for not doing their jobs properly about 4 years back...Errr..Sorry then I meant great job, worth every thousand of those reasobale city taxes.
2 comments:
Ok, so what do you suggest we do, other than rioting?
Well rioting didn't help the kid the police killed in Laval but I would certainly participate in a protest against the local government over this senseless loss of life. I can only hope that we can draw international attention to the blundering incompetence we have at local governemnt here and maybe that could embarass them to fire the right people (i.e. themselves) and to
i) train and regulate private contractors
ii) employ pedestrian staff to follow snow clearing teams to warn pedestrians and oncoming traffic and to close sidewalks or whole roads.
iii) get the police to prosecute snow clearing drivers who are behaving dangerously, drinking on the job etc and ALWAYS give them points. Random breath tests, regular driving re-tests..
iv)allow residents of montreal to make complaints more easily and to back us not them. Complaints could range from doing a crappy job to driving like lunatics or being abusive.
Maybe it is possible to fit vehicles with cameras or infrared sensors to detect living things close to the vehicles, especially vehilcles with limited visibility or 10 foot long blades whhirring in front of them.
We pay them they should work for us. But then again I am naive. My other solution is leave quebec... it is broken and so apparently is the will or the means to fix it.
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