Rob Ford wages his own war on the car—no, really: he thinks cars illegally parked in handicapped spots are bad

Rob Ford wages his own war on the car—no, really: he thinks cars illegally parked in handicapped spots are bad

We assumed that Toronto’s war on the car ended when Rob Ford won the election. But apparently the good mayor himself is willing to fight one last battle against the motor-vehicle tribe—namely, city staff’s recommendation that the city lower its fines for people who park illegally in handicapped spaces. And he has some unusual bedfellows this time around.

Quoth the Toronto Sun:

Mayor Rob Ford and Councillor Pam McConnell—who are at opposite ends of the political spectrum—are bewildered why city staff are recommending lowering the fine for parking illegally in a handicapped spot to $300 from $450.

City council’s government management committee will consider the change next week.

Ford told reporters Wednesday he disagrees with the recommendation.

“If you park in a handicap spot the fine should be up as much as possible,” Ford said. “People that park in a handicapped spot, I’d even go farther, I’d tow them away.

It’s refreshing to see that there are some things that not even Rob Ford will defend. But the story doesn’t end there. The same staff report also recommends that Toronto start levying a fee against those who try to challenge their parking tickets in court and lose (an increasingly common tactic by people looking to lower their fines). No surprise that Ford is more sympathetic on this one and opposes the additional fine. The staff report goes to the government management committee next week—we’ll see what parking changes, if any, emerge from the city hall machine then.

Ford wants to get tough on handicapped parking violators [Toronto Star]
Political foes unite on handicapped parking [Toronto Sun]
Parking ticket trial may become more costly [National Post]
Ford opposes parking ticket court fee [CBC]

(Images: Handicap parking space—Valerie Everett; Rob Ford—Shaun Merritt)