Ticket Information
February 9, 1993
Page two

The municipal ticket information system supplements existing enforcement mechanisms, to the
extent that a local government may still prosecute offenses under the Offence Act, take self help
measures in accordance with various provisions of the Municipal Act, and resort to civil court
procedures, for example, where an injunction is required to enjoin continued uses of premises in
violation of a bylaw.

Advantages

Generally, there are a number of advantages to a municipal ticket information system over the
previous system wherein only traffic offenses could be ticketed and offenses against other
bylaws had to be prosecuted under the Offence Act. These include:

faster enforcement procedures;

lower enforcement costs as no Information or Summons are sworn and the Court clerk is
responsible for notifying the accused of trial dates:

consistent level of fines, at least for those offenses to which a guilty plea is made by the
accused remitting the fine voluntarily; and

a "deemed conviction” of an accused who does not contest a valid ticket.

Conclusions

It should be kept in mind that the enforcement process for a "ticketable" offence does not stop
with the issuing of a ticket. If the accused contests the offence alleged in the ticket, a trial must
be held in the usual manner. If the accused fails to appear or the pay the fine, the usual
collection efforts must be made.

A municipal ticket information pilot project has been under way in Terrace, Kamloops and
Vancouver for some time now. Ron Tucker, the official of the Ministry of the Attorney General
responsible for this program has determined that the incidents of disputes are very low and after
the initial implementation this system has met with a high degree of success.

SS
Susan Rauh

City Clerk

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