900 York Region traffic tickets under review after officers appear to flout Ministry directive

York Regional Police are reviewing hundreds of licence plate sticker tickets following complaints

Yorkregion.com
September 4, 2020
Jeremy Grimaldi

Ever get a traffic ticket for something you aren't responsible for?

Of course, there’s always court where you can fight your case, but the reality is, often times people just pay the fine.

Well, now you might just have one of your tickets revoked, depending on the outcome of a police review into some 900 tickets doled out by the service since March for expired vehicle permits.

The issue came to light in early August, when a young man went to the media with concerns over a $110 ticket he’d been issued by a York police officer, who noticed his vehicle permit sticker on his licence plate had expired.

The problem is, of course, that the Ministry of Transportation told all Ontarians at the beginning of COVID-19 outbreak that tickets should not be issued for this offence so as not to overload Service Ontario centres.

Despite York police saying all its officers were advised of the shift in policy and given new direction, there appears to have still been some confusion, as seen by the number of tickets handed out at the height of the pandemic.

York police Sgt. Andy Pattenden said while he can’t discuss much, he assured YorkRegion.com the issue is being looked at.

“It’s under review,” he said in a terse statement to YorkRegion.com.

The Ministry of Transport also released a statement clarifying exactly what the directive means.

"Documents that expired on or after March 1, 2020 will remain valid and legal past the expiry, until further notice," said the ministry spokesperson," Lee Alderson, adding the validation period has also been extended for driver's licences, licence plate validations, Ontario photo cards and commercial vehicle operator registrations.