Opinion: Winter woes inspire call for kindness
By Sarah Trick For most people this season marks the start of some fun adventures, like skiing, sledding, or snowball fights. But for people in wheelchairs like me, the first snowfall is a cause for pure dread. My motorized wheelchair, which gives me so much freedom most of the time, is completely useless in the snow. I wasn’t too worried this past Sunday night as I made my way to an Advent carol service. In fact, I was looking forward to getting into the spirit of the season. While on the bus, I thought about what I wanted to say in my op-ed column for this week’s Times. I wanted to get across to readers how much harder winter was for some of us, how it rendered us either housebound or in peril. I’ll give lots of advice to clueless able-bodied people, I thought. It will be great. But when the bus stopped calling out the stops and let me off far from my destination, I knew I was in trouble. As regular OC Transpo riders know, a few years ago the transit company started an automated system for calling the stops, which has been a godsend for those of us with disabilities. Obviously it helps people with visual impairments to know where they’re going, but since wheelchairs must face the rear of the bus, it tells us too. But last Sunday night, the automated voice went silent, leaving me adrift in an unfamiliar area of downtown. I missed my stop without even knowing it had gone by. The bus driver was sympathetic but was no help, saying he “had to focus on driving.” After pointing me in a direction (which I later found out was the wrong one), he was off to his next stop. The sidewalk wasn’t plowed and the snow was too much for my chair. I hadn’t gone very far before my wheels were spinning. Undaunted, I did what any resourceful young person would do: I got out my phone and started whining on social media. This accomplished nothing except to worry my mother. After about half an hour of cursing, I noticed a young woman walking by and called for help. She quickly called her roommates, and the four of them began an epic quest to get me back to the main road. This took up much of the rest of their evening, since they had to fish me out of several more snow banks as I kept going, and I am very grateful. So instead of ranting about how the able-bodied just don’t get it, I will thank Samantha, Laura, Jenna, Kelly and...
Year’s first snowstorm may be followed by colder than normal winter
By Kyle Duggan and Brett Throop Ottawa will be whomped by the first snowstorm of the year Tuesday night, the first in a year that’s expected to be colder than usual, according to the national weather service. The weather service issued the winter storm warning for Tuesday night and Wednesday. Dave Phillips, Environment Canada’s chief climatologist, said there could be a significant amount of snow in the Ottawa area and there could be rain or freezing rain. “The morning commute might be a little bit on the messy side, with some blowing snow – that kind of a situation,” he said. The warning calls for 10-15 centimetres of snow Tuesday night, followed by another 5-10 Wednesday. “You haven’t had much of a winter. London’s had 60 or 70 centimetres of snow and Ottawa has had traces of snow, about six centimetres total,” Phillips said. He said this is nothing surprising. “It probably won’t be the biggest storm of the winter. There’ll still be lots of time for that.” Phillips said after the system passes through Ottawa and heads toward Quebec and the Maritimes, Ottawa should see “some very nice sunshine and temperatures a little on the cool side.” The weather warning cautioned driving conditions are expected to rapidly worsen tonight and tomorrow. City police reported over 50 accidents in an hour on Saturday after Ottawa’s first snowfall of the year. Look ahead Environment Canada is preparing its winter outlook and expects to issue it within the next week or so. But this year their crystal ball is a little cloudier than normal. Phillips said the water temperatures in the Pacific that normally control the winter aren’t warm or cold right now, making it hard to forecast. “There’s not a lot of skill in a forecast where the water temperature is rather neutral. It’s more for curiosity’s sake. I don’t think anybody should invest any money in it, or make any plans on it, or cancel your Florida trip,” he said. But Phillips said it’s clearly going to be more of a winter than it was two years ago, “when we almost cancelled winter.” That was one of the warmest Ottawa winters on record with about half the usual snowfall. Last winter, he said, was slightly warmer than normal, with about 12 per cent more snowfall than usual. “My sense is this year we may be colder than last year but we may not see as much snow,” he said. But Phillips said he wouldn’t bet the family farm on it. “There’s no guarantees with weather in Canada, that’s for sure,” he said. Ready for winter Carleton University students waiting...