The Nightmare is Miller's Flunkies Like McConnell

Don't coddle scofflaws
Living up to the cliché of the excessively polite Canadian, Toronto is considering replacing parking tickets for out-of-province drivers with respectful notices pointing out that they have broken a rule rather than levelling a fine.
The rational behind the idea is that the city has trouble collecting parking fines from out-of-province drivers; only 16 per cent of 113,781 tickets issued last year to illegally parked cars with out-of-province plates were actually paid.
To legally pursue out-of-province scofflaws, the city needs vehicle ownership and mailing address information from the jurisdictions that issued the licence plates. And these jurisdictions are reluctant to pass that information along.
Furthermore, a Toronto pilot study, done with the co-operation of the states of Maine and Pennsylvania, found that even when these jurisdictions are willing to help, it costs more money to pursue these tickets than is returned in fines.
That spurred a city hall committee this week to ask staff to look into the matter and report on innovative new approaches to parking violations involving out-of-province cars, such as replacing tickets with polite notices. But in scrapping those tickets, Toronto would deprive itself of the revenue from the 16 per cent who do pay and, at the same time, send a troubling message.
"If the message gets out there that this is free parking in Toronto for any out-of-towners, it will be a nightmare," says Councillor Pam McConnell. She's right.