ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Anne Malone was one of about 40 protesters gathered outside St. John's City Hall Monday afternoon urging the city to improve sidewalk snowclearing.
She smiled as she said many people in the city are relieved the blizzard-induced state of emergency is over, and they’re no longer confined to their homes.
“I just want to draw your attention to the many, many people in the city for whom a state of emergency is still in progress, and for whom it is an annual event that begins usually in November and can extend to as late as May — year, after year, after year,” she said, and her smile disappeared.
"It’s not an economic issue. It’s not a political issue. It’s a matter of human rights and social justice.” — Anne Malone
Malone said she is visually impaired, yet when it comes to her safety on the snow-covered streets, St. John’s councillors tell her to make eye contact with drivers.
“There are 21,000 visually impaired and blind people in this province. If even only 10 per cent of them live in this city, that’s 2,000 people who cannot make eye contact with drivers. This is more than a civic issue. It’s not an economic issue. It’s not a political issue. It’s a matter of human rights and social justice.”
She said having walkable sidewalks is the first step toward independence.
“How long are we going to hold people with disabilities hostage to isolation, marginalization and poverty?”
Nathalie Brunet is a teacher who worries about the safety of her students who walk to school. She told the gathered crowd that while sidewalks near the schools are cleared, many of the nearby residential streets are not.
“My students have to come to school on those streets. My students go out at lunchtime. They deserve to be able to walk around the neighbourhood safely.”
Many of those attending the protest knew Memorial University engineering professor John Shirokoff, who died at age 63 after he was struck by a vehicle while walking on Jan. 4.
People held signs in his memory, and there was a minute of silence to remember him.
His colleague, Elizabeth Yeoman, read a letter from his twin sister, Pattie Ghent: “John was an advocate for safety. He lived a simple life, and for 20 years used St. John’s city transit with a pedestrian-safety-conscious mind. He was methodical and cautious with his day-to-day life while encouraging others to be the best they can be.
“His lab was exemplary for his safety measures, and he would have expected the same level of safety measures in the city of St. John’s, and for the city to be the best they can be. In honour of my brother’s memory, and his dedication to students, all the roads which thousands of students and staff walk must be the best they can be to prevent more deaths — prevent such waste of intellectual minds like my brother’s.
“My brother John would expect nothing less. He gave his life; the city of St. John’s needs to give back.”
Another colleague, and president of the Memorial University Faculty Association, Ken Snelgrove, gave suggestions to improve sidewalks: clear them of snow; open pedestrian trails and bike lanes, thereby separating pedestrians from cars; and implement new standards for street construction to remove stark curb edges; and eliminate utility poles to ease snowclearing.
Coun. Ian Froude told reporters after the council meeting that city staff are working on potential plans to improve sidewalk snowclearing, and there are plans for public engagement sometime this winter or spring about those options.
Froude said the intent is to implement changes recommended through the public engagement for next winter.
“We understand that significant change is necessary,” he said.
Meanwhile, protest organizers are keeping the pressure on public officials with a panel on pedestrian safety this Wednesday from 7-9 p.m. at Bannerman Brewing Co.
Froude will be a part of the panel, and the public is invited to ask questions.
Twitter: @juanitamercer_
