Councillor wants Ottawa to explore sliding scale for parking ticket fines based on income, vehicle value
An Ottawa councillor is asking the city to explore imposing fines for parking tickets based on the driver's income or the value of the vehicle.
With the city of Ottawa moving to a new system for dealing with parking tickets and red light and photo radar camera infractions, Coun. Shawn Menard wants the city to look at a "sliding scale for parking fines that is geared to income, or other potential proxies for ability to pay."
- Sign up now for daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
In a motion for the finance and corporate services committee, Menard says a fine hurts some motorists more than others.
"For the luxury car illegally parked near Lansdowne, a parking fine might just be the price they are willing to pay to attend an event, for others, a parking ticket fine could be the difference between them being able to afford their grocery bill at the end of the month," Menard said.
"Other jurisdictions have addressed this inherent inequality through introducing a system of fines geared to income."
Menard notes Finland has implemented a sliding-scale model for speeding tickets that is based on the offender's disposable income.
On Tuesday, councillors voted to implement a new administrative penalty system for adjudicating parking and camera-based offences.
When Menard asked about a sliding scale for parking ticket fines, staff said they would need some time to explore the possibility of a new penalty system for parking tickets.
Ottawa Bylaw officers issued 298,918 parking tickets in 2023. A report for the emergency and protective services committee shows officers issued 37,652 tickets for parking in excess of posted time limits and 35,378 tickets for illegally parking in no parking zones. Officers also issued 43,610 tickets for unauthorized parking on private property.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus survives vote calling for his ouster
Greg Fergus survived a vote to oust him as House of Commons Speaker on Tuesday, but with close to half of MPs expressing a loss of confidence in him, he faces a precarious path forward in maintaining order in Parliament.
'It was hell': Israeli mother held hostage with her children describes 51 days in captivity
Hagar Brodutch, her three children and four-year-old neighbour were kidnapped by Hamas-led militants from their home in Kfar Aza, Israel on Oct. 7 and held for 51 days. They were released in November, but Brodutch says her thoughts are never far from those still being held in Gaza.
'Unruly passenger' forces WestJet flight to make emergency landing in B.C.
A WestJet flight heading to Calgary had to make an emergency landing in northern B.C. Monday due to an incident involving an 'unruly passenger,' Mounties say.
P.E.I. kiteboarder 'lucky to be alive' after shark attack in Turks and Caicos
A professional kiteboarder from P.E.I. says he has been seriously injured in a shark attack that occurred while he was snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands last week.
Teen dies after being hit by train in N.W. Calgary
A teenager has died after being hit by a train in northwest Calgary on Tuesday afternoon.
Black bear kebabs make family sick with parasitic worms
It was supposed to be a celebration, but one family’s unique meal of black bear meat sent several members to the hospital instead.
'It's his vacation too': Jimmy the baby goat joins 2-week road trip across Canada
After Jimmy the baby goat was shunned by his mother, a New Brunswick man took the kid on a two-week road trip across Canada.
The double-level airplane seat is back. This time, there’s a first-class version
It’s the airplane seat design that launched a thousand memes and kickstarted a media storm. And now the double-level seat is back – only this time, with a twist.
New COVID-19 subvariants become the dominant strains in Canada
More than four years after COVID-19 effectively shut down the world, two new variants of COVID-19 have become the dominant strains of the novel coronavirus in Canada.