ef2d8f94   
   XPost: can.general, can.politics, ott.general   
   From: cognomen@domus.ca   
      
   Incredible!   
      
   I understood that the reason Revenue Canada's name was changed to 'Canada   
   Customs and   
   Revenue Agency' was so that the two departments could legally exchange   
   information to   
   catch 'all those people on income assistance who were vacationing out of   
   country while   
   still collecting benefits'.   
      
   Then they decided there weren't enough of them to warrant the merger, and they   
   changed   
   their name to 'Canada Revenue Agency'.  Now, if they're sharing information   
   with city   
   departments, shouldn't they first have to change their name to 'Canada Revenue   
   and   
   Provincial Traffic Ticket Enforcement Agency'?   
      
      
      
   "Alan Baggett"  wrote in message   
   news:189f7fa2-0565-41bc-a5a3-6bf7c4a1e32f@20g2000vbr.googlegroups.com...   
   Canada Revenue Agency now Collects Parking Tickets? :CRA SOTW   
      
   Provinces, cities track down unpaid tickets   
   By Peter Rakobowchuk, THE CANADIAN PRESS   
      
      
   MONTREAL — Canadian motorists who think they can ignore old speeding   
   or parking tickets shouldn’t get too comfortable.   
      
   Tickets from years past can come back to haunt scofflaw drivers in the   
   form of much higher fines.   
      
   “We have some people we have been going after who have in excess of 50   
   outstanding tickets,” says Steve Jackson, executive-director of the   
   claims and recoveries program of the Alberta Justice Department.   
      
   Jackson says his department tracks down unpaid fines that are more   
   than one year old and registers the offender with the Canada Revenue   
   Agency.   
      
   “We’re allowed to intercept their income tax refunds and the GST   
   rebates.”   
      
   Jackson says he’s gone after offenders across Canada and the United   
   States and advised them their income tax return will be redirected   
   until their outstanding debt is settled.   
      
   “You could have people who are living in the U.S. temporarily who are   
   still deemed to be Canadian and are filing Canadian income taxes,” he   
   said.   
      
   Jackson noted that one motorist had 57 outstanding tickets over a five-   
   year period which included speeding, driving an unregistered vehicle   
   and driving with a suspended licence.   
      
   The man was eventually incarcerated when authorities caught up with   
   him.   
      
   Jackson recalled another case last year when a father came in to pay   
   his daughter’s fines, which totalled more than $5,000.   
      
   Pietro Macera, a bailiff who collects unpaid fines for the City of   
   Montreal, says a five-year statute of limitations on outstanding fines   
   can be renewed.   
      
   “Whether it’s a civil matter, a ticket matter, a criminal matter, it’s   
   gonna catch up to you,” he said in an interview.   
      
   Macera, 50, says any unpaid fines will stay in a town or city’s   
   computer system.   
      
   “So you’re driving and you get grabbed by the police for speeding, or   
   a red light, or a burned-out light — well that day is not your lucky   
   day, especially if you’ve ignored that $100 speeding ticket.”   
   Macera says the ticket can end up costing $500 with court costs and   
   other fees that have been tacked on along the way.   
      
   In some courts in Nova Scotia, motorists who require extensions to pay   
   a fine will appear before a justice of the peace to discuss payment   
   options.   
      
   But if a fine is past due and without payment for six months, it will   
   be referred automatically to Service Nova Scotia and Municipal   
   Relations for collection action.   
      
   There are no extensions on fines that have been referred for   
   collection and a motorist can’t renew his licence or registration   
   until the outstanding fine is paid up.   
      
   In Ontario, overdue fines may not be such a big problem — in fact,   
   some motorists have even ended up paying twice.   
      
   Rolly Riopel, runs POINTTS, a Barrie, Ont., firm that provides legal   
   representation for people who want to fight their traffic violations.   
      
   He says “hundreds, maybe thousands” of Ontarians may have paid overdue   
   traffic fines to both the province and their local municipality.   
      
   The Ontario government transferred enforcement of provincial offences   
   to municipalities between 1999 and 2002 and many hired collection   
   agencies to go after outstanding fines.   
      
   Over a five-year period, at least 50 motorists have come into Riopel’s   
   office to complain they had already paid the province but were still   
   being chased down by local municipalities.   
      
   “The only thing I could say is either you have a receipt or you   
   don’t,” he said in an interview.   
   “If you’ve got a receipt, no problem, (but) if you haven’t got a   
   receipt, you have to pay it again.”   
   Riopel, 62, says most of his regular clients are first-time offenders,   
   who are worried about losing their licence, points and insurance   
   premiums.   
      
   “They want to try to keep their record as clean as possible,” he   
   said.   
      
   But the former Ontario Provincial Police officer says he’s noticed   
   fewer people have been coming to him for help in recent years.   
      
   “Either people are paying their fines or they’ve caught up to   
   everybody who was outstanding,” he said.   
      
      
      
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   Visit the CRA SOTW Library at http://canada.revenue.agency.angelfire.com   
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