The Great White North Rage
And no, it has nothing to do with race - other than a race for the few available parking spots. No, it is about the increasing incidence of "snow rage" in Canada. They have had so much snow that people are fighting about it. In fact, they are pulling guns - both real and plastic ones - on one another over snow and parking spaces.
Recent Canadian winters have been mild but this one looks set to break all-time records for snow. One storm last weekend dumped 23 inches (51 cm) on the capital Ottawa and 19 inches on Quebec City, which has already received 210 inches this year.
Quebec City police said they had been called to a dozen violent disputes about snow from one property ending up on someone else's. The drifts outside some houses are 12 feet and higher.
Last Sunday, a man in an upscale Quebec City neighbourhood became so upset a woman from a snow removal service was putting snow on his yard that he shouted at her and then took a shovel and hit the window of the vehicle she was driving.
"The woman apologized and returned to work … a bit later the man opened his garage door and emerged with a shotgun, pointed it at the ground and looked at her in a threatening way," said police spokeswoman Catherine Viel.
Police arrested the man, who will be charged with negligent use of a firearm, and seized a total of 13 weapons from his home. Viel said snow-related fights were unusually common.
In other words, Quebec has received 17 and a half feet of snow this winter - so far. Forecasters are calling for even more snow to fall in the next few days. (The temperature is also notably below the seasonal norm.) Montreal, meanwhile, has a snow pile that is more than 80 feet high. Officials are warning that if something is not done to disperse the pile soon, it will not melt before next winter begins.
Environment | Gaius Wednesday, 12 March , 2008
By crosspatch, Wednesday, 12 March , 2008 @ 9:32 pm
Officials are warning that if something is not done to disperse the pile soon, it will not melt before next winter begins. I believe that is the definition of a glacier.
By sam, Thursday, 13 March , 2008 @ 12:52 pm
Underneath that polite and reasonable exterior of your average Canadian there apparently runs a current of unreasoning rage. But then, big piles of snow can do that to a person.