Snow removal should be a priority

By Letter to the Editor on February 21, 2018.

It is little wonder that a fierce debate is raging in Calgary at the moment over snow removal. It’s a debate that should be local as well.

“Clearing” only pushes snow off the roads É and usually onto our sidewalks. The usual pattern of freeze-and-thaw results in icy and treacherous sidewalks when the mounds at the roadside melt.

The argument goes something like this: wait long enough and the problem will disappear. It costs far too much to “remove” snow. And besides, snow removed may be contaminated and there are few environmentally safe places to dump it.

These arguments are spurious when one considers that public safety is a primary concern in the Municipal Government Act (MGA). The business of a municipal government is “public service.” Our city declares “public service is our business.” Yet public safety equates to dollars and cents.

Economic development is this council’s self-appointed mandate. They are willing to increase our city’s debt load to make this happen. Well and good. But the MGA says little-to-nothing about the municipal role in economic development.

When there is a heavy snowfall such as we recently encountered, when the snow is light and un-compacted, isn’t snow removal the right option? And blading the street to remove the ice ruts and ridges that form when removal fails to occur É isn’t that just safe and reasonable?

After all, safe streets and roads should be a major attractor for new business. And the wise use of tax dollars for resident safety!

Let’s settle the argument and do something Calgary seems unwilling to do.

Les Pearson

Medicine Hat

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