A few weeks ago I finished work on Friday and met some folks at the Gold Rush Inn for drinks. I got a little sauced-up, took a cab home, and left my car parked at the end of Main Street.
On Saturday morning I woke up, popped an Advil or two and set about the business of retrieving my car. To my chagrin there was a parking ticket flapping underneath my windshield wiper. This was not an isolated incident. It’s happened to me at least three times in the last year.
Tickets in Whitehorse cost $10 if you are the type of person who pays them immediately, or $25 if you are the type who doesn’t. Guess which one I am.
I know that running a city is an expensive enterprise, and perhaps City Hall is still paying off the Canada Games Centre, but I humbly suggest that it can forgo the revenue generated by ticketing cars in front of bars on Saturday morning. It is not fair to punish those who made responsible choices the evening before.
By hanging the threat of a $25 levy over the heads of Friday night socialites the City of Whitehorse is tacitly providing an incentive to drive home drunk. After all, I’d likely be $75 richer if I got behind the wheel.
Come on Mayor Bev Buckway and council members, let’s fix this problem.
Peter Jickling
Whitehorse