Resident “protests” Iqaluit snow clearance practices

I am writing this letter of protest about the way the City of Iqaluit snow-clearing staff plow the roads.

I know we cannot predict what Mother Nature does. However, I can complain about the snow clearing.

Every time a snow storm hits the city, I end up clearing the snow from my driveway at least three times a day. Once in the morning prior to going to work, then when I come home from lunch, and again when I come home at the end of the day.

The complaint that I have is your city snow-clearing crews continuously block my driveway as they plow the snow. Yesterday (Feb. 1) I measured the drift that blocked my driveway. It was 28 inches high and nearly 32 inches wide.

I do not have the luxury of owning an SUV as I have a small car with a low wheelbase and therefore it is very easy for my vehicle to get hung up on such piles of snow that block my driveway as a result of the city’s plowing methods.

I feel you are creating a hazardous safety situation for me and my young family. If I had to rush my young child to the hospital, your piling of the snow that blocks my driveway would delay my urgent need to get to the hospital.

I notice that, downtown, your staff readily clears the piles of snow in front of houses. Just check all those houses close to Arctic Ventures. Why do you not do the same for all of us or is it a case that only downtown counts?

I should have written this letter to you last winter, because the situation was the same.

But last year, I actually got a note from one of your water delivery trucks to clear my driveway if I wanted water to be delivered to my house. I guess water trucks with three- to four-foot tires cannot navigate over those drifts of snow created by your snow clearing crews.

I hope to read your response and I hope all other residents of Iqaluit will also complain about how your crews clear snow.

P. Qammaniq
Iqaluit

Editor’s note: This letter-writer recently sent a copy of this letter to Iqaluit Mayor Elisapee Sheutiapik.

Email your letters to editor@nunatsiaq.com.

Nunatsiaq News welcomes letters to the editor. But we are under no obligation to publish any given letter at any given time.

In our print edition, we usually print letters on a first-come, first-served, space-available basis. In our online edition, we usually print letters as soon as we are able to prepare them for publication.

All letters are edited for length, grammar, punctuation, spelling, taste and libel. You may withhold your name by request, but we must know who you are before we publish your letter.