For several years I drove my Mustang GT year round. This included extreme weather conditions with highway closures and the like. Yes, with winter tires it is certainly doable. But not for the masses. It requires constant vigilance. In my opinion, FWD is less of a handful in extreme weather and thus the better option for the vast majority of people.
I'll agree that it's "not for the masses" (the ignorant, uneducated and unwashed...), but I'm surprised to hear you say it required constant vigilance.
I drove an '05 Mustang GT for 5 winters on Blizzaks in Southern Ontario. Certainly not as surefooted as my WRX, but honestly I thought it was fine in 98% of conditions. Including some whiteout drives through the snowbelt areas.
To me it's not so much that you can't get around with RWD, but that a RWD car will more clearly communicate to the driver when you're at the edge of traction - and certainly when you break traction completely. This scares most drivers. FWD and AWD will shield the driver from this information and you'll only know that you're travelling too fast when you're barrelling into a ditch, sideways, at 80 km/h. A few winters in a RWD car would be good driver education for most Canadians.
Good on you, though, Pritch, for thricing the winter tire argument
This is the important part. It's frustrating to still hear the opinions of folks regarding AWD and winter tires. Purely based on my conversations with coworkers, the vast majority of drivers would still believe AWD + "good all season tires" (whatever those are??) is a superior winter combination than FWD + winter tires. I'm honestly not sure what is to blame: the car companies themselves? heavy marketing "built for Canada", etc?
It's just incredible how 90% of these people spent $X,XXX extra to get an AWD vehicle (slip n grip CUV typically), but can't be bothered to spend the extra for winter tires! Stick with the FWD model and save your money for winters you fools! You don't need AWD to climb your driveway in Milton!