There’s something about a freshly fallen snow on our otherwise balmy West Coast that causes us to see the world anew. With more than a few flurries in the forecast and wind chills in the negative double digits, it’s worth a few reminders of how we’re supposed to behave like Canadians.
At those temperatures, sleeping outside could be a matter of life and death, which we hope our elected leaders keep in mind when debating affordable housing.
If your car doesn’t have proper winter tires, leave it in the garage – for ICBC’s sake and for everyone else who may be on the road.
For homeowners who gripe about a lack of snow clearing on their residential street, we suggest you call in to your council’s next budget meeting and demand your taxes be raised to buy more snowplows.
District of North Vancouver council is also considering a bylaw that would require residents to shovel their sidewalks, which would bring them in line with pretty much the rest of Canada. People who allow their sidewalks to stay covered in snow and ice put their pedestrian neighbours at risk of injury or leave them shut in entirely, so they shouldn’t complain if and when bylaw officers show up with a ticket book.
For those who want to help neighbours in need, West Vancouver now has a Snow Angels program to match volunteers with people who can’t or shouldn’t be shovelling the white menace.
The sooner we can remember how to act in a civilized fashion when the snow flies, the sooner we can embrace the best parts of being Canadian in winter – pasting someone with a snowball from 10 paces and bombing a local hill on a sled.
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