Nearly 200 Hamilton residents and businesses have tried to dispute COVID tickets so far
Hamilton has handed out 459 COVID bylaw tickets or provincial charges since last April - and more than 40 per cent of them have been challenged by residents or businesses.
Not many of those appeals have been successful, so far. But it doesn't help that getting your day in court is next to impossible amid the pandemic shutdown, suggested paralegal Steve Petersen.
The (provincial) courts were closed for months early in the pandemic - and they're closed again," said Petersen, who added he has clients waiting for trial dates who were charged under Ontario's first emergency order last April.
Everyone has the right to timely justice. My clients want to defend themselves, but when is that going to happen?"
City bylaw officers have charged 291 people or businesses under various iterations of provincial COVID law between April 2020 and last weekend. Another 168 people were ticketed under city bylaws mostly related to physical distancing and mask-wearing over that period, said city licensing manager Monica Ciriello.
City tracking of the 291 provincial tickets show 21 people are awaiting court trials, with another 42 seeking early resolution" meetings with prosecutors in the hopes of having fines reduced or tickets thrown out. (The most common COVID fine under provincial emergency orders for individuals is $880.)
Hamilton COVID bylaw tickets tend to be cheaper - between $200 and $500 - and are dealt with outside the courts.
But a majority of those tickets - 112 of 168 so far - have either been challenged or are scheduled to be appealed, mostly via a municipal screening" process similar to a provincial early-resolution meeting. Anyone unhappy with a screening decision can ask for a formal hearing with a city-hired adjudicator.
All together, at least 194 city-issued tickets or charges have been or are scheduled to be disputed.
(Hamilton police have also separately laid 90 COVID charges, but no appeal data is available for those tickets.)
Olivia Mancini still hopes to dispute a $500 physical-distancing ticket she received while sitting to eat lunch with a friend outside city hall in November. The social worker said at the time she believed she was unfairly targeted amid a defund police" rally starting up in the city hall forecourt at the time.
My appeal was scheduled for mid-January, but was then cancelled due to the lockdown," said Mancini Thursday. She is not sure now when she'll get an opportunity to finally argue her case.
Ciriello acknowledged both provincial court trials and municipal ticket hearings have been delayed by the two COVID lockdowns. But in between, some trials did go ahead, resulting in 19 findings of guilt. Early-resolution meetings are also still happening, in some cases remotely.
Screening officers with the city, meanwhile, have cancelled 22 bylaw tickets. So far, 73 have been paid. A lot of people are simply paying it, recognizing there was a contravention," said Ciriello.
Petersen argued more residents and small businesses may be inclined to dispute pricier provincial charges that can exceed $1,000.
He wonders if it's only a matter of time before some of the oldest charges are tossed. When everything finally opens up again, the backlog is going to be phenomenal," he said. How long will they ask people to wait?"
Matthew Van Dongen is a Hamilton-based reporter covering transportation for The Spectator. Reach him via email: mvandongen@thespec.com
COVID tickets issued by Hamilton
Bylaw tickets (physical distancing and masking, $200 to $500)
Issued: 168
Paid: 73
Cancelled: 22
Disputed in front of screening officer: 112
Charges under provincial emergency orders/laws ($750 to $1,000)
Issued: 291
Guilty findings at trial: 19
Awaiting trial: 21
Awaiting early-resolution meetings: 42