Injured Montrealers seek compensation from city for icy sidewalks this winter

Nadya Mirarchi has been bedridden since January.

The Rivires-des-Praires woman ventured out after an ice storm,slippingand fallingon the sidewalk just outside her home and twisting her ankle badly.

"I didn't realize how bad the break was," Mirarchi told CBCMontreal Daybreak's Sabrina MarandolaMonday.Her ankle was broken in three places.

She's had two operations on it since thenand now has plates and screws holding her ankletogether. Her mother had tomoveback to Montreal from Florida to help Mirarchitake care of her children.

Mirarchi has since filed a complaint with the city and is waiting to find out if she will receive compensation for being unable to work or care for her children.

More than 100 complaints

She's one of 108Montrealers who have filed such complaints after slipping on icy city property so far this year.Thatcompares to 92 last yearand 190 in 2014.

Jamie Benizri,Mirarchi'slawyer, said he alone received more than100 calls from people wanting to know what recourse they had after a particularly bad stretch of icy weather in January.

"I'm seeing a record number of calls, consultations and inquiries about what happens when [you]slip," Benizri said.

If Mirarchi'srequest for compensationis rejected, she can file a case against the city in small claims court, which covers claims ofunder $15,000.

However, he said, in one precedent-setting case, a Montreal woman who took her case to court got $130,000.

"That's likely a record," Benizrisaid.

Mirarchi'scase is one of the most extreme he's seen, he said.

"She was walking diligently," said Benizri. "She denounced itto the city through Facebook and other mediums that there was an issue on this particular street."

Mirarchi had no obligation to de-ice the sidewalk in front of her house, Benizrisaid.

"There's a clear divide between the sidewalk and private property."

'We pay our taxes for a reason'

Mirarchisaid she wants to see accountability from the city.

"We pay our taxes for a reason," she said. "It could have been a child or an elderly person."

Montreal was hit by freezing rain the week of Jan. 22, however, the City of Montreal decided to wait for warm temperatures that had been forecast for the weekend in the hope that the ice would melt.

However, the thaw didn't materialize, and by Friday night, another snowstorm hit, forcing the city to deploy snow-clearing teams on Saturday.

The city apologized for not having clearedthe snow and ice soonerand was criticized by the opposition for penny-pinching.