Staffing Lack Could Benefit Ticket Holders
Tb News Source

Thunder Bay's City Solicitor says some traffic tickets may have to be dismissed if more staff aren't added to the Provincial Offences division.

The POA office is facing more and more pressure to defend tickets laid by City police and the O.P.P. and it appears the private company POINTTS, is partially responsible for the backlog.

It's been estimated that 30 thousand traffic tickets were handed out by police in the Thunder Bay District last year and out of those 30 thousand, two thousand, or 7 percent, were contested in Provincial Offences court. City Solicitor Rosalie Evans says a large number of those cases were defended by POINTTS, the company that calls itself the traffic ticket specialists.

Evans says it's becoming a big burden on Provincial Offenses prosecutor Bernard Caron and she's recommended to City Council that an extra staff member be hired, to help the keep up with the growing demands for evidence from POINTTS.

Rod Patton says POINTTS helped defend 600 traffic ticket cases last year. That's up from 100 cases four years ago.

Evans agrees that POINTTS has every right to demand disclosure of evidence and Paddon says he won't go to court without all the facts. But Evans says the POA office was on the verge of having to dismiss cases, because of the paperwork.

City Council has approved the additional staffing so far in its 2005 budget deliberations. Evans says even with the added costs, the POA office will continue to bring in about a million dollars more a year than it spends.