Traffic tickets: Online system proposed for Ontario
Ontario is exploring new ways to pay or challenge traffic tickets as well as other offences with an administrative monetary penalty (AMP) system
Thestar.com
May 1, 2015
By Henry Stancu
Ontario is exploring a “simpler, faster, less expensive way” to pay or challenge traffic tickets - but opponents say it denies the right to a fair trial.
Administrative monetary penalty (AMP) systems have been adopted in some GTA municipalities and other provinces for by-law and parking infractions, and in 2012 Toronto’s ombud Fiona Crean recommended the city move in the same direction.
Taking it to the next level, the province is considering use of an AMP system to handle moving traffic violations - instead of the heavily-used traffic courts - a step that has lawyers and paralegals up in arms.
With the close this week of a two-month online public consultation process, the province’s Ministry of the Attorney General is now charged with finding “more innovative ways to deliver services to make the justice system accessible for all Ontarians.”
“No decisions have been made,” stressed Brendan Crawley, ministry spokesperson. “If we move forward with an online AMP system, individuals with traffic or parking tickets would still have the opportunity to dispute their tickets before an unbiased decision maker.”
Crawley was responding to claims the system presumes guilt and will make it more difficult for people to have their say in the matter.
At a Queen’s Park press conference last Tuesday the Ontario AMPS Opposition Task Force - a lobby headed by paralegals - claimed the loss of traffic court would be an “assault on your constitutional rights,” as anyone issued a ticket for various offences under the Provincial Offences Act would be presumed guilty.
The Ontario Paralegal Association (OPA) filed a detailed negative response to the AG’s consultation process on the same day.
“It denies a person’s right to challenge the allegation of what is now an offence and be able to only dispute the penalty,” said Stephen Parker, OPA president, in the online Paralegal Scope magazine.
“The removal of provincial offences from the court system into an administrative process presents many risks, including diminished access to justice, oversimplifying the dispute process, denial of Charter Rights, public safety, potential for abuse and lack of independent and impartial screenings and hearings officers,” the OPA submission states.
The Law Society of Upper Canada, which regulates Ontario’s more than 47,000 lawyers and 7,000 paralegals, has also waded in. It wants more details.
“In order for us to provide any meaningful appraisal of the proposal, further details are needed, including the choice of offences to be transferred, whether the penalty would in some circumstances include demerit points, the details of the dispute resolution system, including the opportunity to dispute, the design of the online process, and the qualifications and choice of hearing officers,” Janet Minor, treasurer with the LSUC, wrote in her submission to the AG’s office.
“Access to justice issues require more information, including on any impact on individuals’ rights, public safety, and on the availability of any new system to the public, including different language groups and those without access to electronic communications,” her memorandum to the AG said.
The AG ministry has pointed out that about 85 per cent of Provincial Offences Act (POA) charges stem from the Highway Traffic Act and Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act, such as speeding or not having a valid drivers licence or insurance.
About 1.65 million POA charges, not including parking tickets, were laid in 2014 in Ontario and the cost of having police appear in Toronto courts alone on traffic matters was more than $5.5 million.
Only non-criminal charges would come under an AMP system. Serious charges that could lead to imprisonment, such as offences resulting in serious harm or death, would continue to be prosecuted in the Ontario Court of Justice.
With about 2.5 million parking tickets issued annually in Toronto, an AMP system “could settle disputes in far less time than it currently takes, and would be less expensive for the city to operate,” Toronto’s ombud Crean wrote in her 2012 report.
“The City of Toronto has explored an Administrative Monetary Penalty system and continues to do so,” said Kazia Fraser, communications and marketing consultant with the City of Toronto, in an email response to the Star’s question of where the city stands on the issue today.
“In fact, we've been monitoring this system for the last 7 or 8 years and while it has some benefits, there are some significant challenges with it as well.
“Of primary concern for the City of Toronto is that the only fines that can be included, as part of an AMP system, are those with values of $100 or less. While this may work well in Oshawa, Brampton, Vaughan and Mississauga, given Toronto’s higher fines, those fines would need to be managed under the current POA system even if AMP was implemented here,” she added.
A city review found that the existing court system, paid by Toronto, would have to remain as it is because it handles a variety of POA charges, such as all moving violations, trespass to property and other infractions, and there would not be significant financial savings.
“The AMP system would require that the City hire additional staff such as hearing officers and screening officers and therefore, while costs may decrease in one area, they would be off-set by increases in others.
“However, some efficiencies could result from a non-court process and we continue to work with the province to review those components. Ultimately, we believe AMP will eventually be implemented in Toronto,” Kazia wrote.
In its 2011 report, titled Modernization of the Provincial Offences Act, the Law Commission of Ontario cited Vaughan, which launched its AMP system two years ago.
“The experience of the City of Vaughan has been that matters are heard much more quickly; defendants are given a firm hearing date; less time is wasted by the public; there are cost savings by using administrative hearing officers; hearings are streamlined without the need for a prosecutor; and it frees up time on the court’s dockets to hear more serious matters.”
Other municipalities have since initiated AMP systems to deal with such matters as parking tickets and licencing by-laws. They include Brampton, Mississauga and Oshawa, and even smaller communities like Thorold.
“Within the municipal environment, things like Highway Traffic Act charges for speeding or other offences with a motor vehicle are going to be through the province of Ontario,” said Gus Michaels, Vaughan’s director of the by-law and compliance department. “It isn’t something the city would deal with, even though the traffic by-laws are local.”
Asked about criticism about people’s access to fair and impartial treatment, Michaels had this to say.
“The key elements are still met in that when dealing with a screening officer or even beyond that, if you want to launch a formalized dispute, the thing goes to a hearing officer. You still have the same rights of procedural fairness that you would have in any judicial forum, including presenting evidence and asking questions, so nothing is taken away from an individual who wishes to dispute.
“We rarely get a solicitor or agent acting on someone’s behalf and when it does happen it’s usually because the individual is out of town.”
How does one contest a ticket at Vaughan city hall?
“They sit down with an appointed screening officer, who reviews everything on a computer screen and we show them the photographs and all the evidence the city is relying on. Then we take into consideration what the circumstances were at the time. A reduction can be offered at screening and if it’s not accepted the person has the right to a formal hearing, which is scheduled.
“It’s a very non-invasive, simplified process for the person who is subject to a parking tag or by-law infraction. They’re not standing in a court forum with other people around, so they have absolute confidentiality.”
