WATCH ABOVE: Montrealers woke up to a winter wonderland, but not everyone is going to enjoy clear sidewalks this weekend. Rachel Lau explains.
MONTREAL – It was a snowy end to Saint Valentine’s Day, and now Montrealers across the city are replacing chocolates and flowers with shovels.
Some, like Alice Wright, were happy to be out in the fresh air.
“It’s not great when it’s the last thing at night, when you’re trying to get the car out on time, but other than that it’s not that big of a deal,” she said as she slowly uncovered her car.
Bright and early Saturday morning, snow removal workers for the city of Montreal got to work to clear the streets, but they won’t be making their way to all the boroughs this weekend.
Four neighbourhoods – the Sud-Ouest, Rosemont, the Plateau and Hochelaga-Masionneuve – have yet to announce when they’ll start cleaning their streets.
“They didn’t respond yesterday or this morning to the question that we asked, ‘when are you going to start?’ and we have a blank on the list,” said Anie Samson, the Vice-President of the Montreal Executive Committee.
“They didn’t answer.”
Samson admits until the boroughs respond, there’s nothing City Hall can do.
“The only thing we give is the money for the year and they have to spend it for the snow removal but they can do other things with that,” she said.
“This is the decision that they take so they have to respond to their citizens because a few are very angry.”
Zbignew Malysa, a Sud-Ouest resident, says he can’t remember how many times he’s had to dig out his car from underneath a mountain of snow.
“A few times, maybe 10, 11, I don’t remember exactly,” he said.
Though he says he shouldn’t be surprised because the streets in the Sud-Ouest are never clean.
However, with $20 million spent each year to clean up after a snow storms, Malysa insists there’s no excuse.
“Why one borough is two weeks behind, and another is ready after a few days?” he asked.
“This is strange.”
Officials say the rest of the city should be cleaned up within the next four days.
“Don’t forget that we have about 10,000 kilometers of streets and sidewalks to clear,” said Jacques-Alain Lavallée.
“That’s the distance between Montreal and Quebec City 18 times, back-and-forth.”
Still, residents living in the four neighbourhoods waiting for snow clearing will continue biding time until they get some news from their boroughs.
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