Toronto’s cold-weather cred on the line as Norm Kelly considers calling in the army

Almost 15 years ago, then-mayor Mel Lastman decided to call in the army for help coping with some unusually heavy snowfall, and Toronto’s cold-weather cred still hasn’t recovered. Now, as if to ensure that those smug jerks in Winnipeg never have to come up with another Toronto joke, deputy mayor Norm Kelly says he’s contemplating doing it all over again.

According to the Globe, Kelly—who holds much of the city’s top-level decision-making power now that Rob Ford’s has been curbed—thinks the army could assist with the labour-intensive cleanup necessitated by December’s ice storm. “It’s just [a question of] manpower,” he told the Globe. “I’m not sure technically how the army and its reserves could fit into that, so it’s something I’m exploring.” The city expects its cleanup effort to cost $75 million and take six to eight weeks. All mockery aside, maybe some military efficiency would hurry things along.