Contrary to the infamous South Park song, it seems that everything’s gone right since Canada came along; at least for winter tyres. The province of Quebec makes it compulsory for drivers to fit the seasonal rubber to vehicles by 15 December, a deadline decided upon last winter. The law was introduced when data gathered by a provincial road safety task force suggested that 38 per cent of winter accidents involved vehicles relying on all-season rubber. Only ten per cent of (or around 500,000) vehicles in Quebec at the time were found to be running on all-season tyres, rather than specialised winter products.

Meanwhile, winter radials have proved to be “hot commodities” in 2008, according to Canada East and other North American news sources. However, there has been at least one negative reaction to the new law: fifty winter tyres were stolen from a Trois-Rivieres dealership, halfway between Montreal and Quebec City. Increased demand and shortages are being reported across Canada, as head of the Automobile Protection Agency, George Iny, told national journalists: “There are already shortages, spot shortages of certain sizes for SUVs. We’re convinced by the time the Dec. 15 deadline rolls around there will be certain tires out of stock. This used to happen before. It’ll just be exacerbated by the additional demand this year.”