By Cassandra Richards
A NASA study found 2005 to be the warmest year in over a century, and some Centretown businesses are starting to feel the heat.
“We’re at the mercy of mother nature,” says Colleen McLoughlin, a franchise owner of Beavertails on the canal.
McLoughlin says the unseasonable weather has closed the Rideau Canal for all but nine days this winter. Because of the prolonged closure, he has been unable to train new staff, and current workers haven’t been at work long enough to learn the process.
“It’s been difficult to tell them there’s no work and trying to convince them there will be,” she says.
McLoughlin is hoping Winterlude will help bring in some business, if not on the canal, than to in Jacques Cartier Park, where Beavertails also has a booth. However, even if business is good in the park, it won’t match what the canal booths would bring in.
Beavertails has survived seasons like this in the past. Three years ago, the canal didn’t open until the second weekend in Winterlude. As a result, McLoughlin has no doubts the franchise can make it through this season as well.
“It just means we might have to bring booths to more summer events.”
For Mario Peloso, owner of Peloso Landscaping and Snow Removal, this year has been different from past winters. Because of the sporadic snow falls, he’s had to use different products.
“We’ve had to use more salt because there’s more freezing rain,” says Peloso.
He says using more salt means less profits because they have to use more supplies, but since the customers are all on contract Peloso isn’t getting paid for how much he uses.
While the milder weather has some local businesses concerned for the season, others say it has been a good thing.
Al McEachen is the general manager at Tommy and Lefebvre’s sporting goods store on Bank Street. McEachen says this season has actually been better because of the milder temperatures.
“People have been more inclined to participate because it’s actually quite pleasant.”
Unlike the canal, regional ski hills opened early this year and are benefiting the popular sporting store.
“It seems like there is more accumulation on the ground this year than last year,” says McEachen
In the winter of 2004-2005, 232.5 milimetres of snow fell in the Ottawa region between November and January, according to Weather Network statistics.
During the same time period, this year, 285.3 milimetres of snow had fallen, an increase of over half a metre.
At Tommy and Lefebvre, sales were up this year from last year. McEachen presumes this is probably because of the people who are more willing to try out new things and attempt the ski hills because it’s not so cold
Tyler Labelle is one of the part-time ski instructors at Camp Fortune, a Quebec ski hill. He says this year has been better for skiers and snow boarders because it has been a lot nicer to ski.
Weather-watching skiers and those attempting the slopes for the first time are finding warmer temperatures less intimidating and more comforting to their attempted trips down the hills.
“The milder temperatures have brought more people out to the hills, even the occasional skiers who wouldn’t normally get out there,” says Labelle.
The NASA study showed temperatures in 2005 to be as warm as in 1998. However, there was no apparent recognizable cause for the increase, which suggests that global warming could be on the rise.
While that has some businesses making other plans for the future, it might benefit others, as long as the temperature stays cold enough to keep snow on the ski hills.
Beavertails might expand to include the summer season, serving cool lemonade to wash down the sugar instead of steaming hot chocolate.