Love-locks, began in the city of love, Paris. But after damaging the iconic Pont des Arts, they were removed this spring. Now they’re appearing in many places around the world, and in several sites across Canada.
Toronto created a space for the heavy duty tokens in the down town ‘Distillery District‘. and so far the bridges in Canada’s largest city seem untouched.
In Vancouver, City commissioners voted on five locations for a ‘permanent love-lock installation’. The beautiful locations near Stanley Park, English Bay beach, Queen Elizabeth Park, Jericho Beach and Kitsilano Beach, were all rejected by the Vancouver Park Board. The board did, however, approve the hiring of an artist to create an installation once the location has been chosen, with public consultation guaranteed. So it is in the works.
Meanwhile, in Whitehorse, Yukon, where it can be very cold in the winter, locks were appearing on some of the bridges in the capital. Marc Boulerice, the parks supervisor, suspects tourists. “I was in Iceland recently and I saw it on every tourist location,” he told CBC News.
I do feel bad about removing them
He says for safety reasons, the locks must be removed. “I totally understand the sentiment and in some ways I do feel bad about removing them, but due to the recent collapse of the bridge in Paris, we feel that leaving the locks on encourages others to do that and then, you know, it just escalates to the point where you may have a problem,” he said.
Now Montreal has declared, that despite the romantic atmosphere of the Old Port, love-locks will not be allowed on the bridges and pathways where lovers often stroll.
Jimmy Laforge, spokesman for the Old Port, said couples began fixing their locks on the bridge and throwing the keys into the water in the last few months. This past weekend there were about 40 of them, but Laforge said they will not be there very long.
“The bridge was not designed to bear the weight of padlocks … they are removed frequently,” said Laforge. There is no talk yet in Montreal, of a permanent location.
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