#IfYouReadOneThingToday - On snow removal

I grew up in Montreal, a Canadian city that receives epic amounts of snow in winter, and whose public works crews hold an equally legendary reputation for their military approach to snow removal.

As a child, we watched in awe as the caravans of snowblowers, graders, dump trucks and sidewalk plows approached our neighborhoods and turned a snow-covered mess into a passable streetscape. Few other cities know how to do it this well.

Little did child-Carmi know the backstory behind our town's snowplowing miracle, the intrigue, tension, and crime that drove much of it both back in the day, and all the way to present-day. Even though I moved away half a lifetime ago, I still pick up the occasional headline around corruption in the industry, and efforts to eradicate it. As if that's even possible.

This piece, published in 2012 in the Maisonneuve quarterly, is as detailed an overview as I've ever seen. Even if you've never experienced a Canadian snow storm before, it's an eye-opening read.

Getting Plowed

In this exclusive investigative report from Montreal, Maisonneuve exposes the bid-rigging, violence and sabotage at the heart of an unlikely racket: snow removal.

By Selena Ross

April 18, 2012