Snow Irony

If you scrape beneath the irony that the Capital Commission is making fake snow for a celebration that purports to be about winter, you reach even higher levels of absurdity. The CBC is reporting that the Capital Commission is preventing kids from playing in the fake snow:

“It’s amazing how many people have come down and looked, and kids… we’ve been having to chase them away because they’ve been wanting to come down and play in the snow,” says Green.
“We need the snow white and clean of debris, so we’ve been chasing them away continuously from the snow. It’s the snow and just the marvel of being able to make snow on the waterfront that’s attracting a lot of people.”

So not only is the Capital Commission hijacking winter with their fake celebration and their fake snow, but they’re preventing children from playing in the fake snow because they “need the snow white and clean of debris.”

What would good old Charlie Town think about all this? The mind boggles.

Comments

Kris's picture
Kris on January 30, 2006 - 22:36 Permalink

I think gold ole Charlie would be alright with the Capital Commissions decision as in the end the kids will be able to have an great expierence at the Jack Frost Festival….hmmm on another not doesn’t seem to be to many people opposing this festival from taking place on the waterfront?? why is that now??

Charlie's picture
Charlie on January 31, 2006 - 02:08 Permalink

Hahaha, how ironic. I’ve been hearing from friends back on the Island that this winter in general has been pretty much devoid of snow.

When’s the last time any place outside of Brookvale’s made snow? :P

Chris Corrigan's picture
Chris Corrigan on January 31, 2006 - 02:20 Permalink

Yeah, but that’s ths NCC for you. Anyone who has lived in Ottawa knows that the NCC stands for “make believe” from the manicured boulevards to the pretend parks and wilderness areas of the Gantineaus. Don;t get me wrong…the national capital regioi is beautiful, but it is the NCC that is responsible for image.

In the heights of absurdity for the Cnada 125 celebrations, the NCC mounted a stage set of “everytown” which had a street called “Rue Principale du Canada Main Street” which ironically, in trying to be everytown, ended up being no town at all.

Danielle's picture
Danielle on January 31, 2006 - 03:29 Permalink

I know, I couldn’t believe it when I heard this on the CBC Radio news today. It sounds so absurd, making articial snow because the real stuff is not available, so that the Jack Frost festival can go ahead (regardless of the lack of frost), which in the end is intended to be mostly for the benefit of the children….who are currently being shooed away from the festival site. Hmmmm….

Chris's picture
Chris on January 31, 2006 - 12:08 Permalink

It’s totally ironic!

I can understand their issue though. The festival site is not very safe for children at the momment… The front loader is going non stop all day long trucking snow to the parking lot next to Peakes Quay. During the 45 minutes I was on location I watched as the snow engineers rejected a few contaminated loads of snow.

A few pics…
Jack Frost Prep Area

Mark's picture
Mark on January 31, 2006 - 14:37 Permalink

I am wondering what all this extra snow making and such is doing to their bottom line, and what it will mean to the quality of the production. Almost makes more sense to me to cancel it for this year.

Ann's picture
Ann on January 31, 2006 - 16:01 Permalink

Well I, for one, feel bad for the Capital Commission. Their intentions were good — they were trying to put on an event that many, many people enjoyed. It is not unreasonable, in Canada, to expect there to be snow in January and February.
On CBC Radio yesterday, Kim Green said their only real problem would come if we had three days of rain — which is exactly what is now predicted for the weekend. So that may very well mean that all their work will be for naught anyway.
As someone who has planned many events in her life, my sympathies are with the CC — and all the businesses who were looking for the little mid-winter boost.

head scratcher's picture
head scratcher on January 31, 2006 - 19:36 Permalink

Such are the perils of holding outdoor events in our wacky Canadian winters. Maybe rather than a Jack Frost festival something like a Climate Change festival could be organized instead. I can see it now..storm surge surfing, snow melting races, maybe some drag racing on a closed course with all the dormant snow clearing equipment. That way the organizers and the families attending can expect unpredictable weather!!