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Canada's war on doorknobs
加拿大门把手之战
Knobless oblige
非旋不可
New building rules will help old folks—who now risk being eaten by bears
新建筑规定能帮上老家伙们—他们面临着葬身熊腹的危险
IT IS rare for changes to a municipal building code to become headline news. But Vancouver's ban on doorknobs in all new buildings, which went into effect last month, is an exception. It has provoked a strong reaction from the door-opening public and set off a chain reaction across the country as other jurisdictions ponder whether to follow Vancouver's lead. The country is on tenterhooks.
市政建筑规章的修改很少能登上头条。可是上个月在温哥华生效的禁令却是个例外。这一事件引发了开门群众的强烈反应，全国各地也发生了连锁反应，大家都开始仔细思考着要不要跟着温哥华走。这个国家陷入了纠结的状态。
The war on doorknobs is part of a broader campaign to make buildings more accessible to the elderly and disabled, many of whom find levered doorhandles easier to operate than fiddly knobs. Vancouver's code adds private homes to rules already in place in most of Canada for large buildings, stipulating wider entry doors, lower thresholds and lever-operated taps in bathrooms and kitchens.
在许多老残人士看来，杠杆式的门把手比小破旋钮好用得多；为了方便他们出入各式建筑物，一场大战已经打响，而门把手之仗正是其中一役。温哥华法令在加拿大广义上的大型建筑物条例中添加了私人住宅一条，对宽门厅的门、低门槛、杠杆操作的厨浴水龙头都作出了规定。
The rules have provoked grumbling about the nanny state, much of it from doorknob manufacturers. The Canadian Home Builders' Association (CHBA) complains that Vancouver, the only city in Canada with the power to determine its own building code (elsewhere it falls to provincial governments), changed the rules on its own, instead of asking for a revision of the national regulations, which would have triggered more detailed cost studies.
随规章而至的是人们对于保姆政府的抱怨，而旋钮制造商方面怨声尤重。加拿大住宅建筑商协会（ CHBA ）埋怨说，温哥华是加拿大唯一座有建筑物条例决定权的城市，现在它不去改国家规章，而是自改条例，这就需要再研究一番具体成本。
These complaints pale in comparison to a more sinister worry. True, elderly and disabled people find it easier to operate doors with handles. But so do bears. In British Columbia, bears have been known to scavenge for food inside cars—whose doors have handles, knob advocates point out. Pitkin County, Colorado, in the United States, has banned door levers on buildings for this very reason. One newspaper columnist in the pro-knob camp has noted that the velociraptors in “Jurassic Park” were able to open doors by their handles.
这些怨言在一份不祥的担心前未免相形见绌。确实，老残人士用起门把手来要方便得多。但熊也会方便。人们已经知道熊会进车觅食—车上是有把手的，旋钮拥护者提出了这一点。美国科罗拉多州的皮特金县因此禁止建筑物使用杠杆门。一位旋钮派的报社专栏作家提到，《侏罗纪公园》里的伶盗龙就能扣动门把手开门。
Canadians are undeterred. Members of the municipal council in Halifax are considering asking their provincial government to follow Vancouver's example. So too are councillors in Pickering, east of Toronto. The provincial government in Manitoba is examining how the new rules will work in Vancouver. Philip Rizcallah, who manages the federal body responsible for the national code, says he would be open to considering the measure. So far no one has asked.
加拿大人并未气馁。哈利法克斯市市政委员会正考虑倡议省政府效仿温哥华市。多伦多东面的皮克灵市市政委员会也是这么想的。曼尼托巴省省政府有意观察温哥华新规的落实情况。负责的菲利普·瑞兹卡拉称他愿意将该举措纳入考虑范畴。目前还没有人提议。
It seems only a matter of time before someone steps forward. Much publicity has been given to the ban, which plays to Vancouver's offbeat reputation. “What are they smoking out there?” asks Gary Sharp of the CHBA. If further bans do go ahead, those living near the woods would be wise to invest in some sturdy locks before installing doorhandles.
看来向前迈步只是过一段时间的事了。温哥华市利用自身不同寻常的声誉，使这项禁令得到了广泛宣传。“他们在那儿耍什么把戏呐？”CHBA的加里·夏普问到。如果后续禁令出台，住在森林附近的人们最好还是在装门把手之前搞上几把坚固的大锁头吧。译者:王卓
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