 Custom Search  How Many Photo Tickets Will It Take Before You Fight Back? GPS is 100% Legal and Pays For Itself. Click Here To Learn More. Winnipeg: Attorney General Says No To Photo Ticket RefundsNo refunds will be given to the thousands of Manitobans who were wrongfully convicted of Speeding in Construction zones when no workers were present.This decision means the City of Winnipeg is off the hook from having to reimburse as much as $10 million in fines even though the City blatantly broke the law by ignoring the Manitoba Highway Traffic Act and ticketed in the zones when no workers were present and disregarded the need for proper signing of the Zones.
"We are not going to be doing any refunds, or reimbursements. We are not legally responsible to do that and we are not going to do that," Stated Chomiak A recent court ruling put approximately 60,000 tickets that were issued at construction sites in Winnipeg into question because of improper signage. Chomiak suspended the use of photo radar in construction zones last week while new, more clear rules for the construction zones were drafted for the use of mobile photo radar in these areas. He then met with Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz and police Chief Keith McCaskill to change the regulations to allow the City to Rip Off it's Citizens Legally in zones that were never Unsafe and make up less then 1% of all collisions in Manitoba. After the Sherrifs of Nottingham came to an agreement, Chomiak reinstated the use of photo radar last Friday. To Pay Refunds. Councilor Gord Steeves, Chairman of the City's Protection and Community Services Committee says the city cannot afford to refund people who have already paid their illegally issued photo radar tickets. He advised that the hit to the city's revenue would have been between $3 and $10 million. "We don't have the extra money in our budget to do refunds," he said and added that he didn't understand why the province had decided to review about 60,000 tickets issued throughout 2008 and right up till last month. Most Manitobans dislike Photo radar and now Manitoba's Opposition Tories have jumped on the Band Wagon and have been running advertisements to put pressure on the NDP government to refund the fines. They are also running an online petition demanding the same thing.
The signage problem has since been fixed and the Three Amigos' Chomiak, Katz and McCaskill now agree that photo radar will only be enforced when workers are present in the construction zones or if there is some other type of safety issue. The safety issue however can be made to fit their own definition, ie a soft shoulder now becomes a safety hazard so they can justify enforcing the zones. Essentially now the only thing that has changed is the wording of the law. "I have to admit it appears to the public that it looks more like a fine and cash issue than safety one." said Chomiak. It was during question period in the Manitoba legislature last Wednesday he revealed the huge leap in the amount of speeding tickets issued in construction zones last year, compared to 2007. The numbers had jumped from 3,000 to 60,000. "We're going to sit down with the city and look at the issue of retro activity. It is very clear, Mr. Speaker, that the credibility of photo radar and use by the city is on the line," "To go from 3,000 to 60,000, I think, proves our point that this is simply not only just a cash grab, but there's no way that the vast majority of Manitobans were purposely breaking the law driving through those construction zones." said Kelvin Goertzen the Manitoba Conservative justice critic Goertzen said he couldn't believe how high the numbers were when Chomiak announced them. "Well, it's shocking. I actually had to turn to my colleague in the legislature and ask if I'd heard that correctly," Last week the Province announced it was dropping about 860 outstanding tickets after learning of improper sign placement in construction zones where photo radar was being used. A sign telling drivers of the lower speed had only been placed at the beginning of the construction zones. However, Chomiak said at the time that people who had already pleaded guilty and paid their fines wouldn't be getting a refund advising that by paying them they assumed Guilt. Then he flip flopped by saying the government would sit down with the city to determine if and how refunds could be issued. Then today once again flipped again and decided no refunds would be issued. Goertzen is encouraging people to keep emailing and phoning their local politicians and the attorney general. This issue is far from settled and there will be more coming to light as well. The Guru's advice to the Government is to shut down the program now and start rebuilding the trust between the Government and it's citizens and to force the City to come up with more creative ways to generate income other then illegally ripping off motorists. There will be more to come yet on this issue and other, Stay Tuned! Slow Down, Drive Safe and Keep Your Money in You Pocket! Plead Not Guilty to any and all Photo Enforcement Tickets. Larry Stefanuik
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