Clerical errors in Toronto court services 'rare,' city says

Torontosun.com
May 12, 2021
Bryan Passifiume

The city is aware of ‘a few errors’ in Toronto’s court services and is working to resolve them, a spokesperson says.

As the Sun reported Tuesday, a clerical error has resulted in people who’d challenged provincial offence tickets being summarily convicted without having their day in court. Susan Garossino, Toronto’s Court Services director, insists such errors are far and few between.

“While administrative errors are rare, they can happen and there are mechanisms under the Provincial Offences Act to remedy administrative errors by placing applications before the court for consideration by the Ontario Court of Justice,” she wrote in a statement to the Sun.

“The Ministry of Transportation administer drivers’ licences and the city provides updated information on any corrective order made by the court to the Ministry of Transportation.”

Paralegals told the Sun their clients have been receiving letters from the City of Toronto -- which manages provincial offences court -- demanding payment for fines they’d duly applied to fight in court.

Some have been denied insurance coverage and have even seen their licences revoked after the bogus convictions were forwarded to the province, causing some clients to lose their jobs, the Sun was told.

“The impact of the COVID-19 emergency and the expiration in late February 2021 of the Ontario Court of Justice order extending time limits under the Provincial Offences Act has resulted in a significant increase in demand for services,” Garossino said, explaining that the city has adopted an organized approach to address this increase in demand.

“At the moment, I am aware of a few errors are that being expedited.”