Ontario’s quirk of letting chief justice set provincial fines should be changed, lawyers say
Toronto Star
By: Jacques Gallant
Fri Feb 28 2014
Ontario is the only province in the country that allows a senior judge, and not the government, to establish fines for provincial offences. Justice ministries in the nine other provinces told the Star that fines for those offences are made by legislation, with no provisions that allow for a chief justice to modify the penalties. This policy has at least two prominent lawyers saying that it needs to be changed. This problem was recognized this week when Annemarie Bonkalo, chief justice of the Ontario Court of Justice, signed a judicial order, raising distracted driving fines from $155 to $280, including other charges effective March 18th. Ontario has a large range in its legislation, but the final decision comes down to the Chief Justice who has the authority to set the province wide fine within the range of the specific offence.
I feel that Ontario should change the current policy and switch so that the government has te final say in driving fines. Not some random dude. I think that there should be a vote from the people to see what we really want. I personally would vote for the government to have the final say in driving fines, just like the other nine provinces of Canada. We are one country, we should have the same laws and fines. with all the different laws and fines throughout the country, it can get confusing for the people. they should be the same, it would be easier for the people and make more sense.
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