A father living in the Montreal suburb of Beaconsfield is in disbelief after city officials determined that a snow fort he made with his family is a safety hazard.
Yann Lefebvre decided to build the "fort to end all forts" with his children just after the New Year.
The open-air fort they ended up building is completely decked out, including a couple of couches and a special relay area.
Lefebvre told CTV Montreal that he had great fun working on the fort with his family, until city officials visited him to tell him they'd be tearing it down because it was on city property and posed a safety risk. A portion of the fort was eventually torn down.
Lefebvre said he was unaware of the regulations concerning snow forts, but believes he made his fort as safe as possible.
"I think it's ridiculous. I'm not doing anything wrong; my kids are playing outside being kids," he said. "Is there a chance that someone could get hurt? Yeah, but there's a chance of them getting hurt crossing the road.
"It's just parents having fun with their kids, spending good quality time outside."
Beaconsfield Mayor Georges Bourelle said he has nothing against children playing outside in the winter, in fact he encourages it. But the fort needs to stay on Lefebvre's property.
The mayor said that there is a risk that a city snow plow could pass through the street and there'd be no way the drivers would know if there were kids playing on the other side of the fort.
"Maybe a car (will) slip into that area… it's right on the road and nobody will know if there are children back there or not," Bourelle said. "Why put ourselves in a situation to have a tragedy when we can avoid it?"
While Lefebvre initially rebuilt the torn-down section of the fort, he's decided that he's going to host a rebuilding party over the weekend and construct a new fort on his property.
He said he even invited the mayor to the party, but Bourelle said he'd have to check his schedule.
With files from CTV Montreal
