Presumption of innocence goes out the window
When the Canadian women’s Olympic soccer team was penalized because its goalkeeper held the ball more than six seconds, most fans were outraged by the pivotal call. While the rule exists, players and coaches were shocked because, in their considerable experience, that call had rarely, if ever, been made. Team captain Christine Sinclair observed, “We were robbed!”
Sinclair and her teammates are not alone.
In Vancouver, citizens and visitors are in danger of being systematically robbed day and night. More disturbingly, it appears there is little they can do about it.
Consider the predicament. On a perfect summer night, you and friends attend an entertaining Vancouver Canadians baseball game at Nat Bailey Stadium.
After the contest, you stroll to the intersection of James and East 28th to find your truck gone. Two young women join you. Their small car has also disappeared. Another family expresses dismay their automobile is missing. A foursome wanders by; they think they have forgotten where they parked. As one of the young women rings Busters Towing, a man appears on the street and, like a town crier of Pompeii, proclaims doom: “Your cars have all been impounded. They always do this on baseball nights!”
As fans, we thought a pleasant evening was winding down. As citizens, we realized our night had just begun.
All sorts of parking regulations exist in this neighbourhood, as well they should. A corner sign states, “No parking beyond this point.” Close by, another declares, “Parking only for residents of ...” These regulations are clear. What drives citizens and soccer captains to distraction, however, is when regulations are unfairly applied. The young women parked their small car on a street without posted resident restrictions, two feet within the warning sign. My truck was parked 21 feet from a corner with no stop sign. The City requires vehicles to leave six metres, almost 20 feet.
One foot may not seem like much of a margin, but in a traffic disputation or an Olympic event, that foot is a significant difference. When we arrived, my wife stepped out to ensure our truck left ample space in front and behind. “We are legal,” she declared. Apparently not. After learning all our vehicles were in the Busters Towing compound, our group travelled there by cab and bus. The company representative announced it would cost $ 94.25 each to liberate our rides and a further $ 50 each to pay the City for the infractions. The notice says the $ 50 is a “discount.”
Failure to pay by late August would result in the penalty ballooning to $ 100 or even $ 150 by midSeptember.
We wanted to grind our teeth. Knowing the cost of dental work today, however, we refrained.
Parking regulations exist for legitimate reasons and should be enforced. If residents want to control parking on their street, especially near popular venues like Nat Bailey, so be it. Put signs up and most folks will abide. Those who do not should pay the fine. Conversely, vehicles that are carefully parked and street legal should not be ticketed and towed simply because they are easy hook and cash- grab targets.
At the intersection, we took photos of where we parked. We walked off distances, too. But wait. Didn’t we learn at the Olympics that you can watch as many replays as you want, but it is the call made by the official on the field that stands?
Since we were not simply ticketed, but towed first, disputing our fines will not get our $ 94.25 impound fees returned.
Taking photos and providing measurements of where we were parked probably won’t get us very far.
A person used to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Today, as evidenced by our experience, citizens are found guilty and their vehicles taken away with no recourse to setting a poor judgment right.
Busters and the city bylaw enforcement officers appear to have a lucrative deal going. Citizens, therefore, can either hang together and speak out against this “deal” or discover their cars towed and their pockets picked, fait accompli.
Like Christine Sinclair said, “We was robbed.” The question becomes should “they”, whether “they” be football referees or towing companies and bylaw enforcement officers, be allowed to get away with these self- serving bad calls again and again and again. Until Vancouver’s citizens unite, demand and receive fair play, to borrow from soccer star Melissa Tancredi, Busters and City of Vancouver bylaw enforcers should put on each other’s jerseys because that’s who they play for today.