Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Strange But Obscure Montreal Regulation of the Week

After living here for eight years, you would think I would not be surprised anymore by rules and regulations that seem just a bit, well, strange.  But I was reminded today as I biked around my suburbs that the various community pools have not yet opened, some not even on weekends.  This past weekend, there was an ultimate tournament just across the street from a very big pool in Verdun, but it was closed. 

Why?  Is it because it is not warm enough yet?  Not this year. It seems to be the case that the pools can only open when the sixteen and seventeen year olds get out of school.  Why?  Well, these folks are many of the lifeguards.  But that does not explain why some pools were closed last weekend, since the kids were not in school.  And why not use college students who could use the work before the younger teens get out?  Again, it may make sense not to open the pools to too many hours until the public schools let out but at least pool does not open full time until June 27th.  Which means one could be paying nearly $400 for access for just two months of swim-time since the pools close before Labour Day.  That's right, no swimming on Labour Day. 

Perhaps this is a rule meant to protect the jobs for the high school students.  I would not be surprised since protecting jobs seems to be the major focus of many regs.

Maybe I am wrong, and this is not a regulation but a policy, but the swim season here is short enough already.  Making it shorter still hardly makes sense. 

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