Posted on 04/29/2020 8:21:24 AM PDT by rickmichaels
An Aurora woman ticketed $880 for “standing too long in a park” with her baby and dog plans to fight the fine tooth-and-nail.
Roxana (who didn’t wish to use her last name), a new mom to a six-month-old and owner to an Australian Shepherd, took her babies for a walk on April 18 around 4:30 p.m. to Edward Coltham Park near Leslie St. and St. John’s Sdrd.
She walked down one of the narrow paths in the park and pulled over her stroller and dog into a nearby gazebo to let three seniors pass. She responded to a text while her dog was at her side and baby asleep.
Once the group has passed, Roxana said she continued on the pathway, but was abruptly met by Town of Aurora bylaw officer Mario Munguia in a vehicle marked animal services. He asked her why she was in the park and if she knew the park was closed and she responded that she was walking her dog. She said he then asked for her identification, which she didn’t have on her, but cooperated with giving him other personal information.
He then wrote her a ticket for $880 for being in the closed park and that she was standing around too long – despite the town allowing the public to access trails and pathways. Officially, the ticket says the offence is “failure to comply with orders during public emergency.”
“His line of questioning was very much as if a police officer was questioning me,” Roxana, 29, told the Toronto Sun on Tuesday.
“He told me it was a zero-tolerance policy and his words verbatim was that I was standing for over two minutes. My head exploded at that point. It made me feel like I had killed someone or sold drugs or did something ridiculous.”
Roxana wrote a post on Facebook about her experience.
“He also mentioned that he was watching me from afar. I was also absolutely alone. So although there were plenty of people ‘loitering,’ as the officer called it, he only had jurisdiction to issue me a ticket because I had my dog with me.”
According to the Town of Aurora’s website, all parks are closed, however, “trails are open for use and residents may utilize the pathways to walk through the parks. Please practice social distancing when using Aurora’s trails and do not use park benches and picnic tables and avoid all high touch surfaces on your journeys.”
Roxana followed up with an email to the town’s bylaw manager, Alexander Wray, to ask why Munguia was not wearing personal protective equipment and not adhering to physical distancing rules. Wray responded bylaw officers may break physical distancing in order to do their jobs, but didn’t make it clear why he wasn’t wearing PPE. A city spokesman told the Sun it’s up to individual officers to decide.
“The town has made it clear that only trails and pathways are open to be walked on” and that officers are enforcing the bylaw “given a lack of compliance in the community,” Wray wrote in the email.
Aurora Mayor Tom Mrakas said he doesn’t have jurisdiction to revoke the ticket and that the town’s legal counsel has advised staff not to discuss the details of the case because the ticket will be fought in court.
Mrakas admitted in a phone interview Tuesday having the parks closed and yet the walkways open is “confusing.”
“My understanding is if you’re not on the walkway, then you’re in violation,” he said. “We have hundreds of kilometres of trails that are still open, but we explain to residents, stick to pathways if possible. We also don’t encourage people to use pathways in the parks. If they have to go through them, they’re there and you won’t get ticketed if you’re on a pathway, but parks are closed.”
The mayor said under the provincial orders, people won’t be ticketed by moving aside to make room for people coming towards them.
“If you’re going to walk through the park, it’s not to stand in the park,” he said. “How long does it take for someone to walk by and then you just jog back in?”
The Town of Aurora would not get into the specifics of Roxana’s case, citing privacy issues, but said “parks and facilities have clear and visible signage indicating closures and an education campaign about the closures and provincial orders was done.”
Since March 25, Aurora’s bylaw services has had various interactions with 3,133 people in its parks, sports fields and public spaces. It has received 171 formal complaints from people breaking physical distancing orders, resulting in 61 charges — or 2% — out of all interactions.
Michael Bryant of The Canadian Civil Liberties Association said this problem of “ticketing first, asking questions later” is widespread during the pandemic.
“I think it’s a combination of general COVID anxiety (officers) are under and power-tripping, which arise from these new powers,” he said. “There is an apprehension of abuse of process, if not political pressure put on them to ticket people, because mayors, councillors and cabinet ministers writing directly to the chief of police and bylaw officials about enforcement. This is not constitutional kosher. Politicians cannot be directing police.”
Brian Gray, a spokesman for the Ministry of Attorney General, said the province announced in March it was suspending timelines under the Provincial Offences Act and related proceedings.
“As such, defendants who are charged with an offence during this period and wish to exercise their options on the back of a ticket will have an opportunity to do so once the state of emergency is lifted and statutory timelines resume,” said Gray.
Roxana said this was the first time in weeks she left the house to get some exercise. She had been told fresh air was good for her to ease her anxiety, on top of having been cooped up in the house with a newborn and recovering from bronchitis for months.
She said she wonders if there is a broader problem of officers not being adequately trained.
“In a time when there’s a lot of tension, to scare people by randomly handing out tickets is absolutely inappropriate,” she said.
“This is fear-mongering at its finest. I was told I was still allowed to walk in the park but I guess that’s not absolutely true. I got a ticket for social distancing, minding my own business and having a dog. That was my crime.”
Police state. I hope everyone gets a good hard look at it.
Hey, moron, crop the image and size it responsibly.
Cops are going to start catching bullets soon.
It will be very difficult to feel sorry for them.
L
Amount payable: $880.00
The "bylaw officer" gets a $130.00 spiff?
We see it, along with hundreds of other examples and censorships. The issue is how to form an army to combat it.
Did your corn flakes taste somewhat strange this morning? Calm down, dude.
The stupid just oozes out of that statement by the mayor.
I wish she would have used her name, so she can get some donations for any legal costs.
The battle cry is: REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER!!!
Not one, single, solitary vote for any democrat for anything anywhere...from dog catcher on up. Throw these communist SOBs out of office. Friends don’t let friends vote communist.
I got a ticket once in Canada. Their police are very arrogant. I never entered their country again and spent lots of money elsewhere. Lots.
“trails are open for use and residents may utilize the pathways to walk through the parks...”
...you can’t trust this. The popo are randomly handing out tickets and making arrests. If you challenge them in court it would likely take months as their back logs are huge I’m sure. This “trails are open” BS is purely up to the cops interpretation.
“...Cops are going to start catching bullets soon. It will be very difficult to feel sorry for them....”
It’s this kind of insane crap that’s gonna make it happen too.
Someone is finally gonna lose it and cap one of these idiot SOBs.
It’s sad too because its stupid shite like this that gives all of LE a bad rap.
Sickening. I’ve never been too keen on civil disobedience, but I sure am now. Time to rebel against these un-Constitutional orders from self-important would-be mini dictators.
I remember a time when Freepers were civil to each other? Having a bad day? Also the original poster, didn’t create the picture, it was literally from the article. Why are you attacking the poster and not the author of the article in the Toronto Sun for not cropping and sizing the photo appropriately?
Sometimes they do.
That's one beautiful thing about President Trump. He does not abuse power.
His forbearance is beautiful. It is there for everyone to see, every day.
Some see it.
Some don't. Maybe they don't even know what forbearance is. Maybe they are blinded by hate, anger, resentment. Maybe they are the willing victims of groupthink. Maybe they believe their own propaganda. Maybe they think Trump is merely stupid because, were they in his position, they would behave differently, perhaps seize power, perhaps avenge real or imagined grievances.
Many Presidents, certainly Democrats, would have used this corona crisis to seize more power for themselves.
I shudder to think what would have happened if Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, Nancy Pelosi, or some of the others were President now!
Instead of acquiring more power for himself or concentrating more in the office of the Presidency, President Trump diffused the power, sharing it with governors and other elected officials. This I think is unprecedented in US history.
President Trump's enemies have accused him of being a tyrant (among everything else they can think of). He's the opposite.
He is a Cincinnatus.
Cropping an image is not rocket science. My six year old grand son can crop a photo.
for Auld Lang Syne.
Really, you’re whining about a damn picture? Isn’t there more important things for you to complain about? Like Hillary or Obama?
Maybe we need a fundraising item of a pin with a pair of jack boots hanging from a lamp post. Send a few to the local PD.
Perhaps your young grandson can teach you some social skills. You should welcome the opportunity.
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