People in Victoria, B.C. don't always react well to snow, but one man's attempt to help during this week's snowstorm was totally unexpected.
Central Saanich Police pulled over a man trying to clear snow from the street — with a Zamboni — on Monday evening near the Patricia Bay Highway.
The Zamboni belongs to farmer Marko Kardum, 32, who lives on Central Saanich Road near the highway. He told The Huffington Post Canada that it had snowed heavily early in the evening and he wanted to see if the machine would help clear it.
He got to work, but about 10 minutes in, the police arrived. Someone had called the force, thinking that he was trying to make a rink.
The officer wasn't too pleased, but he understood that they were just trying to help, Kardum's roommate Colin Stuart told HuffPost.
Central Saanich Sgt. Paul Brailey told the Times Colonist that the Zamboni wasn't terribly helpful: it cleared the top portion of snow but just flattened the bottom layer, which could turn into ice if temperatures dropped.
Police asked Kardum to go home because the vehicle doesn't have the insurance required to be operated on public roads.
Police escorted Kardum, who was still driving the Zamboni, back to his property, and public works cleared the snow using proper equipment.
Kardum said Tuesday he got the machine to move horse manure, but found it's quite good for removing snow, too. (Kardum bought the Zamboni at an auction for $300, Stuart told HuffPost.)
"It worked really well, actually. I was surprised," Kardum said.
While officials were not impressed, others hailed Kardum as a champion.
"This person is a goddamned hero," wrote a Twitter user.
"Hopefully they're giving him a medal and a hot coffee for being a badass and helping people out!" said a Facebook commenter on a photo of Kardum.
B.C.'s South Coast has been hit with one of the snowiest winter storms in decades.
With files from The Canadian Press
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