With a freezing rain warning, icy streets and sidewalks and no school for just about every child on the island of Montreal, many parents had a bit of a different morning routine Tuesday.
Dorval resident Whitney Gale was one of them.
After hearing her six-year-old son had no school they went back to bed. The problem, her morning routine of taking her son to school helps Gale avoid being ticketed for parking on her side of the street between 9:00 A.M. and 12:00 P.M.
"On a normal day my son starts school at 8:00 A.M., I leave here about 7:30 A.M. - 7:45 A.M., I drop him off at the school" Gale told the Natasha Hall show. "I'm on maternity leave right now so when I get back I park on the right side of the street."
With no school, there was no change over.
"I completely forgot about the car. I got up it was about 9:30 A.M. and I'm like 'Oh no! The car' and I run outside and I see cops sitting there giving people tickets."
Gale said this is not her first parking ticket and on a normal day she will admit her fault and pay the fine, but Tuesday she said should have been an exception.
"On days like [Tuesday] it's not a day to be giving people tickets. Suppose now I was outside going to try and move the car now, and I slip and fall on the ice and the kids are inside. How many hours would I have been outside while my kids would have been alone? Anything could have happened" the single-mother said.
"They're telling people, 'stay inside, don't go out if you don't have to' but in turn of me not going outside I'm going to get a ticket?"
Gale said she tried to explain the situation to the police officer. She said he replied "you were supposed to move it before 9:00 A.M."
Gale added she wasn't the only one to be ticketed on her street Tuesday.
"There were six other cars on my street alone, and two on the street adjacent to mine and I don't know how many were on the other side. On a normal day you're giving one or two tickets on the street, maybe."
She added the streets and sidewalks had not been cleared by the city of Dorval, making the situation even more difficult.
Montreal police told CJAD 800 that regardless of the conditions, the rules are the rules.