moving day

july first is moving day in quebec. that's the day every tenancy contract begins, so that's when everyone moves. having a specific day to move is - as far as i know - something that exists only in quebec. and something i really have trouble understanding the advantage of, even though wikipedia tells me the original reason was to prevent eviction of tenants during winter.
there are plenty of disadvantages, though: rental vans are overly expensive and hard to find, telephone and utility companies are overwhelmed with requests, traffic is hectic. the only people happy about this are the ones that are relieved because they don't have to move - this year anyway. we were part of this last group - and took pictures of other people's suffering...