When Liisa Nisula left her home in eastern Toronto for a medical appointment, snow -covered sidewalks were so impassable for her walker that she was forced to go outside.
“I was using the way and I liked to prepare to have an altercation with the drivers,” he said.
It became easier once it reached Transit to the St. Michael hospital in the city center.
“This looks pretty good,” said the 66 -year -old man, looking at the arada sidewalk in one of the main streets of Toronto, a strong contrast with the snow mounds with narrow and slippery paths that cut them into other nearby sidewalks.
“I was waiting for it to be good because it is a hospital,” he said.
Side Street ‘very rough’ with walking stick, says the man
A couple of blocks away, Neil Thomas stopped in the snow and stacked in the corner of a side street.
The 62 -year -old man, who has no home and stays in a shelter, said that making his way on foot with his cane was “very hard.”
It can be especially treacherous “If you don’t have the right back on your stick (by traction),” Thomas said.
“Fortunately, they gave me shoes that fit well and put me very well,” he said, and said I was on his way to the hospital fracture clinic for a check -up after sliding on ice and breaks his shoulder three weeks ago.
In Montreal, Maryann Davis, 58, has been trapped at home since last Saturday, unable to reach her volunteer in palliative care.
“The point is that they have not done sidewalks,” he said in a telephone interview on Wednesday night.
“I have developed balance problems and I can’t walk if the ground is unequal, even with a cane.”
The consecutive snow storms in the last week threw record amounts of snow in Ontario and Quebec, wreaking havoc on roads, sidewalks and ticket entries. The city of Toronto says that they will spend three weeks before the snow is completely clear and a spokesman in the city of Montreal said Wednesday that he will have been there.
Toronto “trying to focus on accessibility,” says the official
Barbara Gray, general manager of Toronto Transport Services, said in an interview on Wednesday that the city is “very concerned about accessibility” and is prioritizing calls to its customer service line 311 of the people, including those with disabilities And older people, who have difficulty moving.
“We have that identified as an escalation response so that we could try to get crews there as quickly as possible to address their problems,” he said.
“The snow is not melting, so it is not relieved by itself. And the snow really will not move unless we move it,” Gray said. “We are trying to focus on pedestrian accessibility, transit stops (and) pedestrian crossings.”

Rabies Khedr, national director of the Disability Defense Group without poverty, said the snow battery is a great barrier for people with mobility disabilities.
“Scooters, wheelchairs: unless the entrances and catwalks are clear, they can’t move,” he said.
Snow ‘prevents independence, says the lawyer
But Khedr, who is blind, also pointed out that snow also interrupts the lives of people with other types of disabilities.
“A new snow blanket on my entrance path and in my environment really prevents my independence,” said Khedr, who lives in Mississauga, Ontario.
People who are often trust the sounds to help orient themselves where they are and how they need to go, he said.
“(Snow) creates a creepy silence. Husca natural environmental sounds, as if the sound of traffic becomes different … everything is cushioned.”

Dorothy Quon, Vice President of Community Attention in Woodgreen, a non -profit organization in Toronto with programs for older people, people with disabilities and people living in poverty, said they have managed to maintain essential services such as food delivery, the Personal support Workers’ visits, well -being and transport controls for their customers.
He is concerned about vulnerable people as the consequences of snow storms progress.
“The concern is, of course, for those who could have managed for a few days (but) we are possibly getting a weeks in which it is very difficult to move,” said Quon.
“I think there is a risk for older people who are not connected because they could be in their homes really fighting and there may not be a connection they have with someone out of their homes to even point out that they are not cope with.”
People stranded by snow urged help
Both Gray, from the city of Toronto, and Quon, encourage people who are stranded by snow to reach local services to get help. Both Toronto and Montreal have 311 lines that people can call.
Quon also encourages people to verify the elderly and other people who may need help in their communities.
“There are only so much that the different agencies can do. It is a lot, in this type of moments, also neighbors who take care of and take care of each other.”