Whitehorse property owners responsible for clearing sidewalks but city may be liable for injuries

Yo-yoing temperatures and huge dumps of snow have made Whitehorse residents all too familiar with sidewalks slick with ice orburied by snow.

But while the city tells property owners and businessesto clear the sidewalkadjacent to their properties within a certain time period after a snowfall, a Whitehorse lawyer saysthe city is still liable for injuries that occur in that space.

"The thing that the city has tried not to bring to peoples' attention, which is the city is responsible for clearing the sidewalk,"said Dan Shier, a personal injury lawyer and partner with the firm Shier and Jerome.

Theissue of poorly cleared sidewalks was raised by a Whitehorsecity councillor earlier this winter. Coun. Steve Roddick said the city was failing pedestrians, particularly those with mobility issues.

28 complaints to city so far this winter

The city said it uses policies and bylaws to "minimize exposure to liability and set service levels to the public."

Its maintenance bylaw requires individuals to remove snow and ice from adjacent sidewalkswithin 48 hours of a snowfall. Business owners are required toclear sidewalks and lane crossingsdown to pavement by 11 a.m. the day after a snowfall.Failing to do so can mean fines.

Jordan Lutz, a city spokesperson, said byemail that the city has received 28 complaints since October related to the clearing of snow and ice from sidewalks.He said the city issued 27 warnings and no fines in that same time period.

Fines or no fines, Shier said bylaw infractionsdonot transfer liability.

"That does not relieve the city of any legal liability arising from an injury that might occur on that sidewalk."

Shier said the courts would evaluate whether the citytook "reasonable steps" to ensure the area was safe for passersby.

He said liability could fall onto individuals and businesses if property owners allowed water to melt off their property and form ice on the sidewalk, or if a business, such as a caf, was physically occupying the sidewalk.

Although there are few examples of sidewalk injuries reaching Yukon courts, Shier said he does get regular inquiries.

"With people starting to question the primacy of the motor vehicle over the pedestrian and cyclist, these sorts of issues will become more apparent in people's eyes as to things that need to be addressed."

Falls common in Yukon

If there's one thing everyone can agree on, it's that icy sidewalks and pedestrian areas can be hazardous. Falls on icesurfaces are one of the top causes of sport and winter injuries requiring hospitalization in the Yukon.

According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, 15 people were hospitalized in the territory in 2017-18due to falls on ice (defined as a"fall on same level involving ice and snow," and excluding falls involvingice skates, skis and snowboards). That's the same number of hospitalizations from all-terrain vehicle incidents.

Falls also affect workplaces.

Andrew Robulack with the Yukon Workers' Compensation Health and Safety Board said falls areone of the most common sources of workplace injury in the territory, with 200 accepted claims in 2018 alone.

He said while the board doesn't track falls specifictosnow or icesurfaces, he said most occur between September and April.

"Icy conditions increase the risk of slips, trips and falls in workplaces and in the public," he wrote in an email to CBC.

Icy conditions might become the norm rather than the exception in the territory.

Environment Canada says Yukoners willlikelyseemore temperature swings and freeze-thaw conditions in the future, as a result of climate change.