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(c) Earl Noble

Funny thing: Everyone’s fed up about snowclearing in St. John’s — drivers are doing their best not to run down pedestrians, pedestrians are being forced onto the streets by a lack of sidewalk, garbage trucks are playing involuntary demolition derby with our parked cars, as they lose traction on unploughed roads. But no one’s getting in the mayor’s face about it, and he’s made it clear he thinks the city is doing a fine job of snowclearing. Reminder: you elect city council, you’re the boss, go remind them of that today!

At 4:30, the city is having a review of snowclearing operations. Voting will occur after the meeting. An hour before that meeting, a planned protest is afoot. Here is a link to a Facebook Event Page, started by Kerry Gamberg: https://www.facebook.com/events/287437114743270. The point of which is to rally locals to “take back the sidewalks and streets of St. John’s.”

It’s become clear that the people in government claiming we’re doing a fine job with snowclearing either hibernate in the winter, or they get to and from work in a helicopter or secret underground tunnel. The protest is asking people to show up at 3:30 with photographs and letters depicting the sorry state of our sidewalks and roads. If you cannot get to city hall at this time, email your stories and/or photos and pleas to takebackthesidewalks@gmail.com. All this will only work if enough people show up. This is your chance to whine where whining can change something. Shouting at your newspapers, TVs, spouses or roommates about the state of our sidewalks and streets won’t change anything, you need to direct that at your elected city officials. And this is a great, organized manner to do so. 

“For anyone who has any sort of mobility issue, St. John’s becomes a prison during the winter months,” said Anne Malone, a visually impaired native of St. John’s who has been forced to vacate the city each winter. “Older people, the visually impaired, people with physical disabilities, children. We all become second class citizens in the winter.”