Municipal Ticketing

The Municipal Ticket Information (MTI or municipal ticketing) was introduced in 1989 to simplify the prosecution of minor local government bylaw matters.
 

In its design, the MTI system resembles a Provincial Violation Ticket, which allows an enforcement officer to certify the allegation and deliver the ticket to the alleged offender without first visiting a Provincial Court justice to swear the Information and obtain a Summons, and the alleged offender to admit the offence and pay the penalty without appearing in court.
 

Note that although this form of prosecution is referred to as “municipal” ticketing, under the Local Government Act and Islands Trust Act, the provisions of the Community Charter that authorize municipal ticketing also apply to regional districts and local trust committees of the Islands Trust. While the provisions are not identical, the City of Vancouver is also authorized to use a form of municipal ticketing provided in Part XXII of the Vancouver Charter.
 

In order to make use of municipal ticketing, a local government must first adopt a bylaw that lays out the key elements of how ticketing will work in that jurisdiction. This is usually done in a comprehensive bylaw that identifies:

• which offences are subject to municipal ticketing;
• who can issue the municipal ticket for each offence; and
• what penalties may be imposed for each offence.

The Community Charter Bylaw Enforcement Ticket Regulation provides some limitations on the authority to designate offences that are subject to ticketing, the classes of individuals who may issue tickets, and the maximum penalties that may be imposed by a ticket.
 

Under the regulation, municipalities may not enforce bylaws establishing motor vehicle speed limits or regulating the discharge of firearms through the MTI process. In the case of speed limits, police may issue a provincial Violation Ticket, which ensures that penalty points associated with this infraction are applied. In the case of the discharge of firearms, prosecution under the Offence Act ensures that the alleged offender must appear before a judge in order to resolve the charge.
 

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A municipal council may allow one or several classes of persons, such as police officers, bylaw enforcement officers, local assistants to the Fire Commissioner, to issue tickets for any given offence. In this way, individuals with specialized knowledge of the bylaw at question may be authorized to apply that knowledge in the investigation and laying of a ticket.
 

The penalty established for any contravention may not exceed $1,000, which is the maximum penalty permitted under the Community Charter Bylaw Enforcement Ticket Regulation. This penalty is the “face value” of the ticket, the amount that must be paid to avoid an appearance in court or a deemed conviction. If the ticket is disputed, the justice hearing the case may impose a lesser fine if there are mitigating circumstances.
 

The formats for municipal tickets are prescribed. For a general ticket, Form A (PDF, 26KB)provides the face of all copies of the ticket, Form A.1 provides the back of the copy that the local government will provide to the court, and Form A.2 provides the back of the alleged offender’s copy. For a motor vehicle-related ticket, Form B (PDF, 126KB) provides the face of all copies of the ticket, Form B.1 provides the back of the copy that the local government will provide to the court, and Form B.2 provides the back of the alleged offender’s copy. Forms B.3 and B.4 provide both sides of the demand notice that may be left on the windshield of a vehicle and later completed with the details of the registered owner of the vehicle.
 

Upon being served with a ticket, which may be personally delivered or left at the person’s residence with someone who appears to be at least sixteen years of age, a person has 14 days in which to pay the fine amount specified on the ticket, and accept liability for the offence, or notify the local government that the person wishes to dispute the ticket. Instructions for how to provide this notice must be printed on the ticket (Form A.2 or B.2). The local government may establish an incentive for early payment by specifying one fine amount if the ticket fine is paid within 30 days, and another fine amount if the ticket fine is paid after.
 

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Disputed municipal tickets are referred to the Provincial Court for hearing by the local government. Upon referral, the clerk of the court issues a notice of a hearing, setting the time and place for the hearing and notifies both the local government and the disputant. As the penalties associated with an MTI do not place the alleged offender in jeopardy of imprisonment and the fine amounts are relatively small, the presiding justice has some flexibility to hear a wider range of relevant, credible and trustworthy testimony as evidence and to adopt procedures that speed the fair conclusion of the hearing.
 

If a person has indicated that he or she wishes to dispute the allegation but fails to attend the hearing, the justice must review the ticket and convict the person in his or her absence and impose the penalty if the ticket appears to be in order. A person so convicted, who was not at fault for missing the hearing, may apply to the court for a time extension under limited circumstances. This appearance may be in writing, based on an Affidavit (Form C ) (PDF, 23KB) submitted attesting to the reasons for failing to respond or appear.
 

If a person fails to respond to the ticket at all, neither paying the fine nor notifying the local government that he or she want to dispute the charge, the local government may submit the ticket to the court for consideration of a justice. As when a person fails to appear for a hearing, the justice must review the ticket and convict the person in his or her absence and impose the penalty if the ticket appears to be in order.