Fine treatment

A man who wanted to dispute a $40 parking ticket told municipal staff he would call back to schedule a hearing, but when he did so, he was told it had already taken place. He complained to us that he received no notice, and no one from the municipality would answer his calls and emails – meanwhile, the unpaid fine had escalated to $208. Ombudsman staff spoke to a manager at the municipality, who reviewed the file and discovered several errors by the municipality, which agreed to cancel the fine, contact the Ministry of Transportation to withdraw its penalty for an unpaid fine, and send the man an explanation and apology. The manager also said staff would review the case to determine how similar errors can be prevented in future.

Read about how we helped other people in our Selected cases.