Photo radar contractor decides where most enforcement happens, Winnipeg police say

Tag: Manitoba

  • Photo radar contractor decides where most enforcement happens, Winnipeg police say

    The operators with for profit Traffic Safe Solutions who are contracted by for profit Conduent have regularly said ‘we only go where WPS tells us to go” when told they enforcing unlawfully in locations with missing signage, where no work being done on the actual lanes for traffic, the zone extended longer than permitted or required, speed limits artificially lowered or enforing unfairly when no workers present.

    The current an past Winnipeg Mayors, City Councils and Provincial Governments since 2003 have not enforced the Conditions of Authority for Photo Enforcement which is grounds for the program to be terminated.

    The elected and appointed officials that have allowed this or turned a blind eye seem to only care about the $70 Million or more per year taken from drives and be vehicle owners. The Province gets 50% of this “safety” revenue which is arguably unlawful taxation as fines. The City gets 25% and WPS gets 25% after paying its for profit partner.

    Many of the photo enforcement “safety” programs / schemes like this in other jurisdictions have been proven to be involved in corruption with serveral resulting in investigations and convictions including up to 10 years in prison for public officials.

    This and the fact the programs and technology have repeatedly been proven to not improve safety or make it worse is why it banned in many places.

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-photo-enforcement-locations-1.5617380

  • Options for responding to Manitoba traffic tickets / alleged offenses

    The POC / Traffic “court” reopened on July 6, 2020 for dispute hearings and payments only. It had closed temporarily due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

    Here is detailed info about your options if you received a ticket / alleged traffic offense in Manitoba. You must respond within the response period shown on your ticket or a default conviction can be entered along with a $50 penalty.

    If you wish you can exercise your right to dispute the offence (i.e plead not guilty, get a disclosure package, communicate with the Crown attorney and if needed have a trial etc …), admit the offence, or seek a reduction. You have a few options to do so which are listed below.

    If you dispute, you can change your mind later and change your option or plea. Most are still offered or can get a reduction and time to pay. After filing to dispute some tickets have been dismissed when reasonable reason given. This more likely with backlog for hearings / trials.

    You can also authorize a representative to handle the matter on your behalf.

    If you choose one of the retired cops / traffic ticket “experts” be aware they are often fine with not telling you much of this and collecting from you half of what you “save” when they request and if they get dismissal or reduction.

    If you can’t get time off during the day or can’t afford to you can request night court and you can also request a hearing in french.

    Options:

    1) Go in person to 373 Broadway in Winnipeg or check with a regional court:
    https://www.gov.mb.ca/justice/tickets/contact.html

    2) Phone the court: 204-945-3156 in Winnipeg or toll free at 1-800-282-8069 (ext.3156). Have the offense / ticket number ready.

    3) Complete the form linked in this post or here:
    https://www.gov.mb.ca/justice/tickets/pubs/poaform.pdf

    One member said when they tried to attach a copy of their d/l photo, the whole form would freeze. If so send the photo seperately.
    Mail, fax or drop off at:
    100 – 373 Broadway
    Winnipeg MB R3C 4S4
    Fax: 204-948-2023
    or check with a regional court (see link above)

    Or Email the form to POC@gov.mb.ca

    Warning email is not secure and there has been cases where they have send disclosure package by email last minute with little time to prepare your defense and requests for dismissing or adjournment denied.

    Ask for confirmation that they have received the form.

    After your form processed you should be sent a letter with hearing date. After this you can contact the court to get name of the crown attorney or articling student assigned to your case and phone number. You can then call or email them (first name.lastname@gov.mb.ca) if you need to request adjournment for more time to prepare or …

    A disclosure package should he sent to you at least 7 days before your trial but you maybe able to request it earlier.

    You have the option to request the operator or officer be present to question (The crown can be asked to call them as their witness so you can cross examine or you cam subpoena them). You must appear before a Justice to request this but should not need to go into detail about your defense.

    The Guide for self represented Defendants via link below and on the MB Courts website provides general information about the court process for tickets. This guide is not meant to be used as legal advice. If you have any legal questions, contact a lawyer.

    General info about tickets
    https://www.gov.mb.ca/justice/tickets/

    Disputing
    https://www.gov.mb.ca/justice/tickets/dispute.html

    More on this and related at www.wiseupwinnipeg.com and WiseUpWinnipeg under Announcements, Files, Discussions etc…

    The “New Plea Process” page and post has more details on when and why this process changed (their claimed reasons and what their real intentions appeared to be), the erosions of the accused rights, their ability to know about and exercise what rights are left and what can be done about these injustices.

    More info and some history about the process change here

    New Plea Process

  • WPS pension changes and off topic but important comment and response

    Nov 6 2019 – Concerned Citizens of Winnipeg and Manitoba

    Find comment below from article and post about City of Winnipeg plans to change the police pension bylaw to make the pension more sustainable using the new Provincial public sector pension and benefits legislation. Mainly change City / taxpayers contributions from 18% to match employee contributions of 8%, require 20 years service and age 60 for full pension and remove pensionable overtime.

    For more info, comments and discussion see

    —

    “I would not mind nearly as much if:

    -They weren’t committing fraud with drawings in court.
    -They were on top of crime instead of sleeping in cars with photo radar.
    -They were properly testing their devices and ACTUALLY only interested in ticketing bad or dangerous drivers.
    -They would post people randomly in high theft areas, like grocery stores, liquor marts, etc instead of on busses and corners looking for phones (but even that is acceptable to me if it’s about safety and not revenue).”

    —
    Response

    , the hand written Designated Construction Zone diagrams, sleeping in photo enforcement vehicles is WPS’s for profit “partner” Conduent (formely Xerox / Lockheed Martin / ACS) but they claim to get direction from WPS on where to “enforce”.

    The breaches of charter, due process and other legal rights plus ignoring of codes of conduct, professional standards, sworn oaths, ethics etc… when issuing “violations” during pretrial and in Provincial “Offenses” ‘court” aka SCC / Traffic or kangaroo court” by the Crown, JJP’s, operators and officers is the result of the past Selinger led SpeNDP, current Pallister led PC governments, Katz and Bowman led City and Administrations, WPS Chiefs McCaskill, Clunnis and Smyth, the Police Boards plus the Judiciary (Chief Justices) choosing the 50% Province, 25% City and 25% WPS / Conduent shares / cuts in traffic “safety” revenue over proper engineering, safety, public trust, respect, confidence and econmic growth / legit tax revenue.

    This abuse, extortion or government sanctioned taxation as fines involves over $70,000,000 per year taken from mostly safety conscious drivers and vehicle owners.

    A similar sanctioned racket or flawed and biased “enforcement” revenue stream happening with for profit partner G4S and the Winnipeg parking “authority” which involves over $40,000,000 per year.

    Combined this equates to over $450,000,000 per year or 5,000,000,000 since 2003 (when the priority became more about revenue) taken from the economy and economic growth with velocity of money.

    Low income individuals and families hit the hardest with the fine option taken away to pay with community service and MPI in on the racket with officer issued “offenses” and licenses and insurance penalties plus suspension of license or preventing renewal till payment

  • Winnipeg Police pension changes and City Hall Bureaucracy

    WiseUpWinnipeg – volunteer public advocates

    The City of Winnipeg is proposing to change the police pension bylaw to make the pension more sustainable using the new Provincial public sector pension and benefits legislation. Mainly change City / taxpayers contributions from 18% to match employee contributions of 8%, require 20 years service and age 60 for full pension, remove pensionable overtime and have the members share some of the risk.

    This similar to changes made or planned to other unsustainable pensions at the City, Province and across Canada with an aging population, more early retirements and other real factors.

    https://winnipegsun.com/news/news-news/winnipeg-plans-police-pension-changes

    It is no wonder the WPS has been eating up 27 – 29% of the City’s $1 – $1.12 Billion budget with 85% going towards salaries, pensions and other benefits, been consistently over budget, required pension defecit bailouts and getting Millions of dollars diverted from MPI overcharges instead of these being refunded, being pressured by the Province and City to reign in inefficiencies and unsustainable spending.

    They have more officers per capita than anywhere in Canada, earning on average more than any police service in Canada, their overtime is pensionable earnings, employee pension contributions of 8% of salary and City / public contributions of 18.48% and full pension at 55 after 20 years service.

    Is what EPC and City Council voting on reasonable? It is more inline with other City staff, is better than most provincial staff and is well above the average in the private sector.

    More on the pension changes and history below.

    This and other unsustainable spending at the City is why it had it’s credit rating downgraded and Bowman and former Finance chair Morantz had to go to NYC to grovel to prevent more downgrades.

    They came back with plan for multi million dollar traffic managment system they couldn’t afford but implemented anyway. They not even using it to correct dangerously short amber light times that would reduce rear end and related collisions by 50% or more. They choosing the 95% increase in red light camera “violation” revenue instead of public safety. This and related would be criminal if it was not government sanctioned.

    If this is important to you contact the Mayor and your City Councilor to voice your concerns and ask how they plan to vote on this. Same if your councillor on EPC.

    Contact your MLA and the Minister of Infrastructure about the photo “enforcement” Conditions of Authority not being enforced and amending the HTA so it requires compliance with National Engineering safety standards like MUTCD and ITE for signage, amber times, speed limits etc…

    —

    WPS overtime issues and pension history

    Some WPS officers have bern getting sent on calls where there is a lower risk to public safety and a cadet, social services or community group member could be sent. This has increased calls for service and OT but this is starting to finally change with better policy and direction as serious crime has been much higher than than Canadian average and increasing while most of Canada decreasing.

    The WPS has been allowing officers to transfer to the traffic unit near the end of their careers and work large amounts of overtime to effectively pad their pensions as it partly based on their best five years.

    Up until recent legislation changes officers were also required to attend traffic court when those they accused of traffic violations exercised their right to plead not guilty to these alleged offenses. They would often only put off duty hours for availability to collect several hours or a half day of pensionable OT.

    Many officers (often with quotas) were aggressively targeting locations with known, created and dangerous traffic engineering deficiencies in signage, short amber times, artificially reduced speed limits etc … to take advantage of the system flaws for personal gain rather than report missing, obscured or inadequate signage, focus on locations with real safety concerns etc…

    Some officers have even admitted to issuing unfair tickets but said it is for the courts to sort out. Very few warnings are issued anymore for drivers with good records. Officers in total have been issuing up to 60,000 alleged traffic offenses in Winnipeg each year. This on top of up to 150,000 photo “enforcement” alleged offenses issued per year and both of these have been trending up.

    The City’s annual compensation disclosure reports has shown several officers making up to $150,000 per year before public pension contributions and some other benefits. That was more than the Chief and then some have retired early with over $100.000 per year for life and then a part of this can go to their spouse.

    Project drive exposed by WUW FIPPA requests showed over $1 Million in OT paid out to officers in a month and they issued about $900,000 worth of tickets. This before public paid pension contributions of 14 – 18% as their OT is pensionable earnings.

    FIPPA requests from WUW and MB PUB reports show MPI diverted millions of dollars in overcharges instead of refunding to pay WPS officers diverted from community support and other important units or to work pensionable OT for “enhanced enforcement” in engineering deficient locations. Senior WPS John Burchill saying “It to help counter the City reducing our budget and we hope the “data” will help get more funding like this”. The City was trying to reign in unsustainable spending.

    Many reports of officers waiting until they nearing the end of their shift to arrest suspects in known locations to allow several hours to process and do paperwork plus other tactics to get more pensionable OT.

    Some officers investigated or charged with fraud for fraudulent OT but no meaningful consequences with the double standards within the police and Justice System.

    The WPA union lied or mislead for years before and during negotiations. This exposed before the last CBA with many FIPPA requests. They finally got a more sustainable deal. Still higher than most other City and Provincial unions have gotten recently. They have forced arbitration many times even when they were getting favorable offers when considering all the facts.

    We agree Bowman has done terrible job in many ways but WPS’s higher compensation and unsustainable pension bylaw was all negotiated and enacted before Bowman’s time.

    He and his EPC +2, the Wpg Police Boards and Chiefs just allowed the trend to continue until the last negotiations when the Province finally put pressure on them to be fiscally responsible. The Police board and Chiefs response was to close two serious crime units that were partnering with RCMP.

    The issues above and others like it are the main reasons the pension became unsustainable and needing deficit bailouts.

    This article from Aug has the City reporting the Police Pension was not in deficit anymore.

    https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/police-union-vows-legal-action-on-push-for-pension-changes-547716142.html

    This WPS Pension report from 2012 says the pension was in deficit and City contributions increased from 8% to 14%.

    http://wcebp.ca/Document.aspx?id=9581

    —

    There is no information we could find about the City mismanaging anything with the police pension. There is claims from the union that decades ago the City used surplus from the pension but the union didn’t provide any details. Recent FIPPA requests proved the union was lying or misleading during the last negotiations so how much of what they say can be trusted?

    There is a stabalization component of the fund that is nearly exhausted which maybe due to unsustainable pensionable OT, padding pensions before retiring early and other issues already identified.

    From the following Council meeting minutes the City / taxpayers are on the hook if the pension investments don’t do as well as expected. The police pension bylaw requires the City make up for the lower returns.

    The Police mismanaged how officers utilized, allowed pensionable OT to get out of control and no consequences. They just asked for more unsustainable budget increases every year and union forced arbitration every four years to get unsustainable increases.

    This unsustainability has only started to change after the PC government recently began putting pressure on the City to be more financially responsible.

    The new public sector pension and benefits legislation can be used by the City if they need to, to help restore sustainability.

    See point 59. Winnipeg Police Pension Plan – Solvency Exemption under
    http://clkapps.winnipeg.ca/DMIS/mobilemenu.asp?DocId=11498&SectionId=

    —

    Comments and discussion here

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/WiseUpWinnipeg/permalink/10156226133501222/

    Sadly there are many that a wilfully blind to the real issues and facts in front of them, they are often victims of years of false and misleading information and other propaganda tactics or they are benefiting from it at the expense of the majority.

    —

    blindness goes BOTH ways.

    —

    The many FIPPA requests, annual compensation disclosure reports, other public records we rely on and the well documented trend in behavior by senior WPS and WPA (union) plus many officers speaks for itself.

    We are not saying the job that many officers have is not tough and that they should not be compensated adequately.

    They should be and it just needs to be reasonable and sustainable which it is not based on what taxpayers can afford, what other jurasdictions in Canada are doing and other pension changes in Manitoba and across Canada due to people living longer, retiring earlier and other real factors.

    —

    I only see WPS being targetted these days. No one bats an eye with the gross income and benefits our counsellors and Govt are screwing people out of. Seems front line staff are good enough to bust their asses for us and all we do is tear them a new one. Open the can of worms up…. but do it for everyone.

    We agree about councillors, other politicians, bureaucrats and justices being way overpaid and compensated for the amount of work they actually do. We have called this and other fiscal irresponsibility out before and not enough wanted to do something meaningful. We must not give up as we are opposing a well funded, biased and greased system.

    We agree we need to support front line workers as long as what they receiving reasonable and sustainable. Unions helped restore a balance but have gotten too powerful and influencial, often using unethical or worse means so we have swung too far the other way.

    It isn’t just WPS, the water & waste, transit, healthcare, education and other groups have seen pressure to restore sustainability. Many have had short term wage freezes, pension changes or it already being discussed.

    The City owes over $1 Billion in net debt, the Province $23 Billion plus Hydro owes Billions and rising after the Katz, Bowman and SpeNDP reigns. They both have had credit downgrades and the interest payments are larger than many entire departments budgets.

  • Long lunches, shopping trips, short shifts: City inspectors caught on camera – Winnipe Free Press

    By: Ryan Thorpe | Posted: 04/4/2019 7:00 PM – The Winnipeg Free Press

    —

    The investigators say only one staff member placed under surveillance appeared to be putting in an honest day’s work. On average, it’s alleged the PPD inspectors put in less than three hours of work each shift.

    https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/sloth-in-the-city-planning-department-inspectors-loiter-at-tims-go-shopping-probe-reveals-508135822.html

    —

    Originally posted here including more comments:
    The Great Canadian Talk Show Facebook Post

    Addition comments

    WiseUpWinnipeg Facebook post

    — Archive —

    (more…)

  • Traffic law changes exploit drivers

    By: Curt Pankratz
    Posted: 03/21/2019 4:00 AM |
    WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES
    With fines of $300 to $700 for traffic infractions, enforcement in Winnipeg generates $4 million per month in revenue.
    Manitobans generally do not see traffic enforcement as a serious legal issue, and we’re losing our rights because of it.
    Enforcement in Winnipeg generates $4 million per month in revenue. Such revenue generation depends on Manitobans to see traffic violations as simple matters. Simplistic publicity campaigns reinforce this belief by, for example, telling drivers to “just slow down.”
    But traffic is a serious issue. It is a leading cause of injury and death, and depending on how it’s done, enforcement can increase or decrease safety.
    Traffic infractions are no small matter, either. Manitoba has the highest traffic fines in Canada, and typical fines of $300 to $700 constitute a considerable expense to most people. It’s not acceptable to say “just slow down” because Winnipeg violates nearly every national engineering standard for traffic signage, amber light timing and speed limits, and has 173 missing school-zone signs that it refuses to replace.
    In this context, predatory enforcement can accumulate astonishing revenue because it can ticket people who are driving safely. The challenge for revenue-hungry police and government is that when large fines are given to thousands of reasonable drivers, there will be a lot of court challenges.
    In Manitoba, three main strategies have been adopted to deal with this, and they are costing Manitobans their rights.
    First, Manitobans have lost their right to be tried before a judge and to choose a representative. In 2006, the province created the Judicial Justice of the Peace (JJP) program. It hired several people and anointed them with judicial powers to preside in traffic court. The idea was to reduce the burden on provincial judges.
    However, JJPs do not require legal training and some are related to police officials or have historical connections with the Crown’s office. Importantly, JJPs have been more likely than judges to rule in favour of the Crown on key issues, even when evidence and submissions are the same. The Crown has therefore often sought to kick critical cases from judges to JJPs.
    Court transcripts also identify a range of legal misapplications by some JJPs, such as disregarding precedent, subjecting representatives to involuntary bag searches and preventing arguments from the defence.
    JJPs have also been essential to the recent efforts of the prosecution to restrict the accused’s right to appoint another person to represent them. This right is spelled out in the Provincial Offences Act, as well as on the back of each ticket. Although the ticket also states that a representative may be excluded based on the justice’s “opinion,” in the law there is a much higher standard for excluding a representative than the ticket suggests.
    Nevertheless, court transcripts indicate that the prosecution often moves to block representatives who win cases, and such motions have only been successful when a JJP is presiding rather than a judge.
    Second, in 2015 the province initiated what it calls the “pre-plea triage program.” Its roots are problematic from the get-go because it is based on an exclusive partnership between Prosecution Services and the courts, which are supposed to be independent of one another.
    This program requires anyone who wants to challenge their ticket to go to 373 Broadway in person. Once there, they are required to go through a series of lineups and meetings before they can request a trial date.
    It is a violation of the law to require this process. The law gives the accused the right to request a trial from the courts without these steps. The program is designed to whisk thousands of drivers through, offering fine reductions if necessary but avoiding legal entanglements associated with predatory enforcement and traffic engineering deficiencies.
    The third strategy is the transformation of the law itself. Under the law, which was adopted in November 2017, several key rights have been eliminated. First, the court now uses “certificate evidence.” This is where the accusing officer certifies their version of events and submits the certificate to the court. The content of the certificate is taken as proof until the accused proves their innocence.
    This is tied to a second problem, which is that the officer no longer attends the trial, and the accused no longer has the right to cross-examine them. By contrast, the prosecution has the right to cross-examine the testimony of the accused, as well as any witnesses they produce.
    Finally, the law eliminates the right to appeal decisions made in traffic court. Appeals now require permission from the court, and you cannot appeal the facts as interpreted by the presiding judge or JJP.
    Further exploitative polices are being planned, and if Manitobans continue to see traffic enforcement as a minor legal issue, our rights will continue to erode.
    Curt Pankratz is associate professor in the department of sociology at the University of Winnipeg.

  • Traffic ticket court bars representative for ‘acting as a lawyer’

    Todd Dube, founder of Wise Up Winnipeg (left) and Keith MacCharles, who is fighting two radar tickets, in front of the traffic courts in Winnipeg on Tuesday
    MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

    Traffic ticket court bars representative for ‘acting as a lawyer’

    By: Kevin Rollason – Winnipeg Free Press
    01/29/2019 7:00 PM |

    If it talks like a lawyer, writes legal briefs like a lawyer, and acts like a lawyer, it probably is a lawyer, according to a judicial justice of the peace and the Crown.

    However, a driver advocacy organization believes that’s not true — and anyone can be enlisted to help fight a photo radar speeding ticket.

    In traffic court Tuesday, Judicial Justice of the Peace Nettie Cuthbert-Buchanan agreed with the Crown’s motion to not allow Christian Sweryda, a second-year law student at the University of Manitoba, to act for a company charged under the Highway Traffic Act for two of its vehicles speeding through photo radar zones.

    “I am barring Mr. Sweryda from acting as a representative in this matter,” Cuthbert-Buchanan said.

    “He is acting as a lawyer… (the) standards are put in place to protect the public… Mr. Sweryda’s actions are the practice of law.”

    Cuthbert-Buchanan said she was using a section in the provincial offences act which states a justice “may bar a person from appearing as a representative if the justice finds that the person is not able to properly represent or advise the person for whom they appear.”

    The stance was challenged by Todd Dube, founder of Wise Up Winnipeg.

    On the back of a traffic ticket, under the heading Authorization to Appear or Act, it states a person charged with the offence can “act personally or by representative in any proceeding. To authorize another person to appear or act on your behalf, you must provide him/her with your written authorization to present to the court.”

    “The legal process abuses, that we’ve seen in traffic court over the years by the Crown and the judicial justice of the peaces, has been alarming,” Dube said after court.

    “What we saw here (Tuesday) was the preference of both those parties to keep informed people out of their courtroom. The legal errors we saw (Tuesday) will easily be overturned on appeal,” he said. “Traffic court in Manitoba requires an independent inquiry.”

    The traffic ticket court case itself involves two speeding tickets handed out after company vehicles passed photo radar vehicles last year. The matter has been put over until March.

    Keith MacCharles, owner of Airmaster Signs, said he is fighting the tickets and wanted Sweryda, a friend of his family, to help him.

    “The legal process abuses, that we’ve seen in traffic court over the years by the Crown and the judicial justice of the peaces, has been alarming”

    – Todd Dube

    “I’m fighting it because they seem to be more concerned about me getting a ticket than with getting me to slow down,” MacCharles said after court. “They could easily put signs up or traffic calming devices, but they don’t because they want to give out tickets.”

    Earlier, the court was told that, for months, Sweryda has appeared for numerous people charged with photo radar violations and has written legal briefs used in the matters.

    Crown attorney Amanda Cheys said prosecutors became increasingly concerned, as while the back of the ticket states people charged can get others to help in court, it does not allow people who are not lawyers “free rein as a lawyer without the protections put in place for lawyers.”

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    The court was told the province addressed the matter several years ago, when it allowed businesses such as POINTTS and Traffic Ticket Experts to represent people, as long as they registered and bonded.

    Cheys said it is the Crown’s view allowing someone to represent a person in traffic court was intended for a relative or friend to come if there were language difficulties or if they needed emotional support.

    Sweryda disagreed and said the Crown didn’t have any problems with him representing people until he won a charter motion last year.

    “(Since) then, they have fought to have me removed,” he said. “To put it bluntly, it is opponent shopping.”

    Sweryda said he represents people he knows, and doesn’t get paid to for his time in traffic court

    kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
    Reporter

    Kevin Rollason is one of the more versatile reporters at the Winnipeg Free Press. Whether it is covering city hall, the law courts, or general reporting, Rollason can be counted on to not only answer the 5 Ws — Who, What, When, Where and Why — but to do it in an interesting and accessible way for readers.

    —

    Comments from a member observing in court.

    Fun facts missing from what was said in the court room today: to make more profit, the court allows non-lawyers and students to pretend to be the prosecutors, and allows just about anyone to pretend to be the judge (JJP) in traffic court. There are 3 sides, the govt side, the victim / accused side, and the judge. This non-judge has declared that the victim cannot seek help from a non-lawyer. If the victim does hire a lawyer, he or she would be the only lawyer in the room!. Can the bias here be any more clear?

    In real court rooms, the judge has been promoted from being a practicing lawyer, and the prosecution team is made up of lawyers. Not so in what they pretend is “traffic court”.