$8.2M of unpaid Winnipeg parking tickets sent to collection agency
The City of Winnipeg is cracking down on unpaid parking tickets.
It says $8.2 million worth of unpaid parking fines is now eligible for collection. Notices have been sent in the mail by a collection agency, Gatestone & Co Inc., to collect the unpaid tickets issued by the City of Winnipeg.
Chris Carroll got a notice in the mail Friday—which he says was the first time he learnt he got a ticket.
"I would have expected to have seen something before a collections letter," Carroll said. "I wasn't totally surprised, I mean I do run a business. I don't use street parking very often in my business but it's plausible I had a ticket."
He says if he saw it on his windshield, he would have paid it. Now, that $70 fee has gone to a collection agency.
Carroll said he doesn't know if he'll pay the notice, saying he needs proof.
"I'm going to be asking for evidence before I pay anything."
If the ticket isn't paid—the city could take action.
"In accordance with Manitoba legislation, the City is able to apply several different types of debt collection tools, including vehicle liens and seizures, and the use of a third-party collection agent," a spokesperson from the City said in a statement.
An MPI spokesperson says a parking ticket would not automatically affect a driver's licence or insurance, but there is legislation that could change that. The Provincial Offences Act would let the Province of Manitoba, or a municipality, get a court judgment against someone with unpaid fines. That judgment would prevent the driver from renewing their licence.
The spokesperson says if that happens, MPI would not be able to accept insurance premium payments.
"There is no set timeline for the mass mailing of letters from the City’s collection agency," a spokesperson for the City of Winnipeg said. "Accounts may be forwarded to the collection agency at any point after the period when the ticket is eligible for appeal has expired."
CTV News asked the city how many tickets are unpaid, and how much the collection agency services will cost. It says it is looking into this, but was unable to provide an answer by Monday evening.
In 2020, the City of Winnipeg put out a bid, looking for a collection agency to collect unpaid Winnipeg Parking Authority notices. At the time of the notice, there were nearly 42,800 unpaid penalty notices, including parking citations and non-parking penalties, totalling $5,758,787. It included tickets from 2020 or older.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.
Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by N.Y. appeals court
New York's highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era in determining the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against the ex-movie mogul that weren't part of the case.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.