Alberta Government says “so long” to new plans for traffic ticket appeals

The Alberta Government is saying goodbye to their plans to change the traffic ticket appeals process.  

Originally under Bill 21, the proposed changes meant if a ticket was under $299 you would have to pay a mandatory fee of $50 to dispute it. If the ticket was over $299 that dispute fee went up to $150. 

The bill was going take effect as of February 1, 2022 but with much concern from the public, the changes were postponed to allow some time to rethink the idea. Now, the Justice Transformation Initiative (JTI) has been cancelled altogether. 

According to the Government of Alberta website, the JTI was to be implemented in three phases: 

1. Create an adjudication branch with a mandate to resolve impaired driving-related contraventions of the Traffic Safety Act. Also strengthen the administrative penalties for impaired driving. 

2. Expand the jurisdiction of the adjudication branch to address all other contraventions of the Traffic Safety Act, except those that result in bodily harm or death, by the end of 2021. 

3. Expand the administrative adjudication process such that it could be adopted and adapted for use by any regulated area of provincial jurisdiction. 

On the afternoon of March 22, during a question period, Justice Minister and Solicitor General Tyler Shandro sealed the deal on the JTI. 

“I can confirm, Mr. Speaker, that it is being scrapped. The JTI initiative is being scrapped and will not be proceeding any further.” 

Transport Minister, Rajan Sawhney, says some of the reasoning behind the changes was due to the feedback they heard from Albertans and the MLAs. 

Airdrie East MLA Angela Pitt, says she was very pleased to have a conversation with the Minister of Transportation Rajan Sawhney about this issue.

"To her credit, she listened and she agreed it was a problem. She figured it out and was able to put a stop to this.  I think this is a really good example of how government should act and behave and when you're wrong you make it right and move forward."

Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to news@discoverairdrie.com