Valérie Plante said she was shocked Monday by the opposition’s refusal to increase parking fines in Montreal.
Posted at 10:37pm
The administration wants to significantly increase penalties, especially for drivers who park in reserved lanes and disabled parking spaces. Fines for these two offenses will increase from $234 to $271 next year.
The opposition argued that these elevations were too steep and that parking regulations were not being enforced evenly across the city.
“My head is exploding right now,” the visibly angry Montreal mayor told the city council. “I find it shocking to hear what I’m hearing right now. […] We attack the principle of being able to ensure that the public road is well shared. »
No, we do not park in a handicap space. No, we do not park in a lane reserved for buses.
Valérie Plante, Mayor of Montreal
Ms. Plante responded to Christine Black, the mayor of Montreal-North, who announced the rejection of the opposition
Without downplaying the seriousness of closing lanes reserved for public transport or spaces reserved for people with disabilities, we believe the administration should complete the move before fines increase by more than 15% (which are already high enough ) and the hiring of park rangers to allow increased surveillance throughout the area,” Ms Black said.
The verbal taunts caused a dispute in the municipal council.
“Increase fines by another 15% just to punish Montrealers who are having trouble eating and are being asked to tighten their belts,” opposition leader Aref Salem said, supporting his colleague Black.
“We know that a fine has a deterrent effect […], the fine must be large enough. We’re talking about a hindrance to security,” added Sophie Mauzerolle, who is responsible for mobility within the Plante administration.