A $250 Course on the Toronto Justice System

The place to pay parking fines

Today, I went to court in Canada for the first time to fight a ticket for parking in a fire route in Toronto. After nine months, the case finally went to trial at Room E9 on the second floor of Ontario Court of Justice, 1530 Markham Rd, at 10:30 a.m. When I got there 10 minutes before the start, there were about thirty people already in the room, and prosecutors were encouraging us to "plead guilty with explanation" and get our fines halved. Most people did that.

I was among six or seven stubborn ones who chose to plead not guilty. The reason was that the address stated for the offense was wrong--I was parked between 644 and 642 and not "at 640" as on the charge sheet. I assumed that basic accuracy of the charge was important and refused to plead guilty to something that isn't true.

It was a long wait, first for the guilty pleas to get cleared, and then for the not guilty ones to stand trial. One case took a long time as the defendant went into details on the interpretation of parking signs. Another one got rescheduled as the judge disallowed the defender's daughter to act on his behalf and as his Tagalog interpreter. Numerous cases got dropped as prosecution could not find the police or parking officer. My name was the second last, heard past the 11:30 recess, but allowed as the judge said she was willing to stay till 12 o'clock.

My case is pretty simple. The charge states:

On the 08 day of AUGUST 2008 AT 12:57 PM AT 640 (STREET NAME) you did commit the offence of: PARK IN A FIRE ROUTE contrary to the CITY OF TORONTO MUNICIPAL CODE; CHAPTER 880-14(A)

Posed picture: my car between buildings number 644 (in front) and 642 (behind)


Fire route sign for No. 644


The charge sheet

First, the judge asked me to state and spell my name. The charges were then read, and I was asked to plead either guilty or not guilty. I stated the latter. Then the parking officer who ticketed me took the stand and made his statement, and I was given the chance to cross-examine him. The judge asked if I would allow him to use his notes to refresh his memory, and I said yes. So we proceeded with the questioning. Best I remember, it went:

Me: What was the building to the front of my car? (correct answer
would be 644, my apartment building)

Officer: Number 640, [street name].

Me: And what was the building behind my car?

Officer: Um. (shifts uncomfortably)

Judge: OK, that's enough. Witness may step down.

I didn't object then, thinking that the officer had established his lack of certainty and accuracy.

I was then given the chance to state my case under oath. I began by pointing out that what the charge states is simply not true, that at the time of the ticket, I was not parked "at 640." Also, I explained that my car wasn't even parked in the fire route. It was parked outside a fire route, between two fire routes, in fact. Although I had pictures and a 2:49-minute clip on my computer with me, I wasn't allowed to show them. I also gave further details, pointing out that I was away from the car for a few minutes with my kids drying out our tents--we'd just come back from a camping trip--and my kids were underaged; so I couldn't leave them by themselves. But the main point was the inaccuracy of the charge.


Drying out these tents from our Bon Echo trip was what started it all.


My 2:47-long clip of the car park

Prosecution then asked me several questions, mainly whether there were signs posted at the fire routes. And then I stepped down from the witness box, and prosecution, I, and the judge made our final submissions.

As soon as the judge started into her final comments, I knew my case was dead. Her overriding concern was simply that the officer had no motivation to lie, which was never a consideration in the first place. When her "I find the defendant guilty" was pronounced, I accepted the fine and paid it promptly on the ground floor. For some reason, phrases like cash grab, a good education, almost like Singapore, and now you know came to mind. The cashier seemed sympathetic--maybe she's sympathetic to everyone!--and asked for the details, which I gave her. But I reminded her, as I usually tell people, that the end is not yet. We will not always see justice in this world, but we shall see all wrongs righted when that great day comes. And that's best living for!


Fine assessed in full


Paid in full

Now over to you. What would you have done? Please log your comments below!