Many across the City agree that residents expect better snow clearing operations from
city officials especially with the high taxes we pay.

At least one City Councillor has gone as far as asking for a review of what went wrong
with the slow removal of tonnes of snow that fell during a snowstorm last January.
Councillor Josh Matlow, of Ward 12, says his office received more than 700 complaints
over the slow removal of snow from the January storm and he wants something done
about it.

Matlow has moved an urgent motion before City Council called ‘Clearing the path toward
a safe and accessible winter,’ that was seconded by Councillor Mike Layton, calling for a
Major Snow Event Post-Operational Report to include: quality of service delivery on

sidewalks, roads and cycling infrastructure; timeliness of snow clearing and removal ac-
tivities. They want the prioritizing of snow removal from community safety zones, access to pub-
lic transit and the clearing of windrows.

The storm dumped about 55 centimetres of snow on Toronto in just over 16 hours, crip-
pling large sections of the city. It shut both major highways leading in an out of Toronto.

“By the end of the week, too many local streets were still impassible in North York,
Scarborough, East York, Etobicoke and downtown,” the politician said. “Sidewalks and
parking in front of long-term care homes left many seniors and caregivers homebound.”
Here in South Etobicoke many seniors were forced to cancel Wheel Trans service, trips
to their doctors or hospitals and to remain at home.

“Pick-up or drop-off areas and sidewalks around schools left many students and parents
with no choice but to walk in live lanes of traffic to and from school,” he said.
Matlow said many residents reported getting mixed messages from 311 saying that a
request could not be filed as crews hadn’t started snow clearing on their street or having
their requests closed with no action or explanation at all.

“The City’s snow communications primarily focused on boasting about the tons of snow
removed, rather than actively working to resolve the concerns that residents shared via
311 or through my office,” Matlow noted.
He said even an online PlowTO map that gave real-time data on the progress of clearing
and salting operations was wrong.
It left Mayor John Tory calling for a post-operational report on various City Divisions
reaction and handling of the major snow event.

“I believed that it (report) did not go far enough to address to the very real and underly-
ing problems that many were experiencing in the moment,” Matlow warned.

“The service standards the City of Toronto provides for snow clearing and removal isn’t

good enough,” he complained. “I also believe residents deserve accountability and an-
swers to exactly what went wrong.”

There are some side streets in the South Etobicoke area that still hasn’t undergone a full
snow removal since the storm.

Tom Godfrey is Publisher of The South Etobicoke News, who lives in the
community. He was a reporter at the Toronto Sun for many years before
deciding to use his skills to work in community journalism.