Frustrations over snow clearing ‘boiling over’ into abuse territory

It’s safe to say that most have had enough of the snowstorms this year.

While people have no say over the weather, how they react to it is completely within their control. And, according to the City of Cambridge, some residents are losing their cool.

There have been numerous reports of hostile interactions between residents and snow-clearing staff, significantly more than in years past. Much of that anger has been directed at plow operators.

Rob Axiak, Manager at the City of Cambridge, told 570 NewsRadio that what staff have been telling them is concerning.

“Some of the things our staff are hearing can be threatening at times. They’re quite vulgar in many ways. Lots of profanities are being said to them. This is not just our operators, by the way, this is also our bylaw staff, our customer service staff at counters.”

Axiak said in some cases, it’s gone beyond words.

“We’ve actually had people, like residents, throw things at our operators. Throw shovels at our trucks as they go by.”

He went on to say that there have been several instances where police have needed to be called. “When we’re starting to fill out police reports on certain things, that’s a bit of a cue for us as management to say, something is going on here,” added Axiak.

But, waiting a few days to have a street cleared after a snowstorm, or having the plow come by and fill the end of a driveway, right after completing the job, is nothing new. It’s almost a rite of passage for Canadians.

Why now is there so much anger?

Axiak pointed to something in particular that is making things worse: the internet.

“There are things being said on social media that are stirring up some anger. People are saying certain things online about ‘the plow operator did this’ or ‘the city has refused to come and plow our street’. These things are being said online that are completely false.”

Axiak said people read these things in their feeds and react to them, rather than checking to see if it’s true.

Last month, the city launched an online information campaign aimed at helping dispel some of the misinformation about snow clearing and to provide accurate information about the process. But even those efforts were met with pushback from the community.

“We’re trying to create some levity around it to try to change the tone a little bit. Some of it has worked, some of it has backfired in some ways.”

Some people were upset over the use of AI-generated animated characters in the campaign. Others felt like the lighthearted tone was disrespectful of their legitimate concerns.

Axiak said the city has provided a slew of information about snow clearing on its website. That information includes details about how the plows are dispatched and what streets are prioritized.

Axiak encourages anyone with questions to reach out to the city.

“Go to our website, look up the phone number you need to call. You don’t have to hunt for it (answers to questions), but we’ll give you the right information. We will go out of our way to make sure that every resident is well informed.”