Protest won't change parking rules for Ottawa residents, bylaw says

As policeenforce some traffic rules for protesters, bylaw officers have been told to avoid the "hot zone" except for certain circumstancesbut tocontinue to conduct "regular business" throughout the city.

The protest has seen vehiclesparked and honkingon roads leading to Parliament Hill for the past weekwith widespread reports of threats and harassment in the area.

City officials, including Mayor Jim Watson, have said ticketing and towing protesters could incite them. Ottawa police previously saidthey've chosen not to step inwhen they see laws being broken because the threat of violence is too high.

Police officialschanged one part of their responseThursday, announcingtraffic officers wereactively patrolling central Ottawa and had issued30 traffic tickets one day earlier for infractions such as honking, driving the wrong way and speeding.

Bylaw officers, meanwhile, have been asked to turn a blind eye to the laundry list of infractions by protest vehicles and participants.

During a city briefing Wednesday, the city's general manager of emergency and protective services explained bylaw officerswill only issuetickets when vehicles are blocking the flow of traffic, fire hydrantsand emergency exits within the protest area.

"But we pick and choose when we do that," said Kim Ayotte.

"We're not going to put our bylaw officers at risk by having them go into the hot zone and issue tickets to a crowd that could become violent."

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Since Friday, the bylaw department has issued 115 tickets to vehicles within the protest area,626 parking infractions for vehicles parked illegally within the Centretown area, and a total of2,164 citywide where"it's regular business for the citizens of Ottawa," Ayotte said.

Unfair double-standard, say residents

Residents like Emily Minor decry this policyas an unfair double-standard. She received a $130 ticket while parked in front of her downtown home for less than five minutes.

"I was like, 'Are you serious right now? What about all of these trucks here? None of them have tickets on their dashes. The parking spots have been taken up. Why has nobody been ticketed?'" Minor said.

Glebe resident Sarah Murphy received two separate parking tickets this weektotalling more than $200 in fines. She wasparked during snow-clearing hours.

At this point, she is still considering whether or not she will pay them.

"I deserved the ticketsbut it is frustrating to know that the city specifically is saying that they're not ticketing protesters because of the fear that they'd get aggressive," Murphy said.

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The city's head of bylawsays the departmentunderstandsthe frustration for residents who live and work in the downtown core, but that can't change how bylaw officers go about their day.

"There is unfortunately no means to differentiate vehicles associated with the protest and those that are not," Roger Chapman wrote in an emailed statement.

He said officers "use their discretion" when issuing tickets and are working with police to keep officers safe during any enforcement.