'They are trying to empty my pockets': Quebec drivers stunned by dramatic increase in parking fines

Quebec drivers have been getting quite a shock in recent weeks to learn that parking tickets now carry fines as high as$200 in some Quebec municipalities.

"This is crazy," saidSbastienSt-Franois, a Longueuil business owner who was slapped with a fine for $169.

St-Franoisparked on ChamblyRoad in Vieux-Longueuil, right in front of his office, because construction work was blocking access to his regular parking lot.

"I have a parking space in the back for which I pay every month, but because of all this, I could not access my parking space that morning."

Parking on one side of the street is forbidden before 7:30 a.m. He got the ticket at 7:17 a.m.

"I'm not only frustrated becausethey're preventing me from accessing my parking spot, which gave rise to the parking ticket in the first place, but now I get the feeling that they are trying to empty my pockets,"St-Franois told CBCNews. He said hewill be contesting the ticket in court.

Another Longueuil resident,CarolineLacoste, said she "almost had a heart attack" when she sawthe $169 fine on the ticket she'd been issued. Her car was parked on the wrong side of a streetin Longueuil, an offence that used to cost $43.

Lacoste, who lives in Longueuil, brought hercomplaint to city council last week.

"I find this abusive," she told council.

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Changes to Highway Safety Code

Coun. ric Beaulieu, the vice-chair of Longueuil's executive committee,blamedan amendment to Quebec's Highway Safety Code, passed last May.

"The city is deferring to the fee setby the Quebec government," Beaulieutold Radio-Canada.

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The law says a vehicle cannot be stopped "in a place where parking is prohibited by a sign." In the spring, the fine for doing sowas increased to between $100 and $200, up from $30to $60.

The new fine is higher thanthe $90 ticket you'd get fordriving more than 25-to-29 km/h above the limit.

It'sabout the same as the fine levied for failing to stop at a stop sign or a red light.

Province didn't advertise change

However,the provincial Transport Ministry did not warn road users, and the change is nowhere to be foundin the list of safety code amendmentsthe ministry published online.

Cities that have their own parking legislation appear not to have adopted the change.

In Sherbrooke, a parking ticket will still cost you $33; in Quebec City, it's $43, andin Gatineau, it's $53. Montreal's parking infraction rate recently went up to $60.

Trois-Rivires, Longueuil andMont-Tremblantare among the municipalities that have adoptedthe rates set out in the provincial law.

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Quebec Transport Minister AndrFortinsaid the goal of the new rules is to allow police officers the ability to levy heftier fineswhen drivers are parked in an unsafe manner, such as on a sidewalk or in front of a fire hydrant "not when you're illegally parked on a residential street."

He said perhaps the Highway SafetyCode needs to be modified to make that clearer, but hisministry will first check in with municipalities.

"We want to make sure that we have the same understanding," Fortin said.

"We will at least ensure that all municipalities know that the Highway Safety Code does not necessarily take precedence over their parking regulations, that they can continue to proceed as they have always done."

With files from Radio-Canada's Thomas Gerbet and CBC'sAntoniNerestant