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Two CBC reports on snow two months apart should be enough for Calgarians to put two and two together.

The first report in December revealed that Albertans are falling on the ice and being injured at three times the rate of people living in Ontario. The second report came out last week and compared sidewalk-clearing rates for various cities across Canada.

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The City of Calgary clears a piddling 268 kilometres of sidewalks in the city, and expects residents and businesses to clear the other 5,409 kilometres. Ottawa clears 2,100 kilometres of sidewalks with a snow budget of $64.3 million, compared to Calgary’s $38.1 million.

The city estimates it would cost another $55 million on top of that to clear Calgary’s sidewalks. It would mean a property tax increase, of course, and Calgarians have shown themselves to be severely allergic to tax increases.

But wait – fewer sidewalks are being properly cleared here and more people are slipping and hurting themselves than happens in Ontario. Cause and effect? Well, duh!