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No more jail threat for minor unpaid fines

Apr 24, 2017 | 11:22 AM

AIRDRIE – Does it make sense to put somebody in jail for not paying a transit fare?

RCMP, the provincial government, and the John Howard Society all say no. That’s why as of May 1 failure to pay a fine for a minor non-traffic offence will no longer lead to an arrest warrant. Civil action will be used instead, like for traffic tickets. For example, someone with unpaid fines may be prevented from registering a vehicle.

Chris Hay, executive director of the John Howard Society of Alberta, said there’s something “significantly wrong” with incarcerating somebody over something like an unpaid three dollar transit fare, putting a strain on police and court resources.

“But I also think there’s something socially wrong with that,” Hay told a news conference at the RCMP’s Southern Alberta District headquarters in Airdrie. “I don’t think someone should be incarcerated when they’re not a danger or a risk in any way to the public.”

Hay said the risk factors leading to such a scenario tend to include poverty, addiction, low education and unemployment. He also fears an otherwise law-abiding citizen may come out of jail worse off than before, feeding into the cycle.

Justice minister Kathleen Ganley said warrants are expensive and labour-intensive to administer, adding up to nearly 9,000 hours per year for court staff just to deal with minor offences. The province says roughly 45 per cent of the approximately 200,000 outstanding warrants are for minor infractions of provincial and municipal bylaws.

The Act to Modernize Enforcement of Provincial Offences also allows police to electronically file tickets with the court, using the same system used for photo radar tickets.