Times must be tough in the halls of government. Apparently, Toronto is now digging through the couch cushions of history, chasing unpaid tickets from decades ago in search of loose change. Case in point: Geoff Clendenning from the hamlet of Limehouse, who’s now had his driver’s license suspended over a $32.75 Toronto parking ticket from 1996.
Yes, 1996. Back when people rented movies on VHS from Blockbuster, printed directions from MapQuest, and thought the Spice Girls were the modern day Beatles.
Clendenning initially thought the suspension letter was a scam. Reasonable reaction. But after contacting authorities discovered the ticket had apparently been partially paid, leaving a small balance outstanding. Somehow, that loose end sat in the system for nearly thirty years before springing back to life like a zombie with a clipboard.
The real sting came next. Since his license was suspended, Geoff would also have to visit the courthouse to pay a $281 license reinstatement fee, then wait a week before returning to the Ministry of Transportation to have a new license issued. Driving during that time —under suspension—could get him slapped with an even bigger fine.
Somewhere in a government office, a bureaucrat is rubbing his hands together and giggling like a madman. His idea took parking tickets that should have been written-off years ago, increased their value by 10X, and forced motorists to foot the bill. It’s truly a world gone mad.
Crazy!!!
City of Winnipeg is the same right now! Chasing me down with texts/phone calls all day everyday over a parking ticket my daughter got about 5 yrs ago (car was insured in my name so apparently it’s on me to pay).
I’m glad to hear that it’s not just the city of Toronto that’s gone mad. Hiring collection agencies to chase down a citizen over a ticket is a waste of resources.
Since the Ontario premier Doug Ford outlawed those automated speed cameras, looks like the city and our mayor Olivia Chow (the zombie meter maid) are scrambling to make up the shortfall in the budget. Just pathetic if you ask me.
Is there no statute of limitations in Canada / Toronto?
There’s a 12-minth statute of limitations on crimes like trespassing, but apparently parking tickets NEVER die! You figure it would not be worth anyone’s while to chase down such insignificant sums of money, but once that license gets suspended for non-payment, the amount a driver must pay can go up 5X or 10X the original ticket amount.
The stupid thing about this instance is that the motorist had his license renewed several times. Got new plates for new cars. All that had to happen was put the ticket on his driver’s record, and he’d be forced to pay the ticket (which he short paid) the next time he went to the DMV. It didn’t need to come to this.
Pure evil.
Exactly.