Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Photo radar tickets must be bilingual

Residents of Winnipeg's francophone neighbourhoods are entitled to fully bilingual speeding tickets, the province's appeals court ruled Monday.

The Court of Appeal upheld a 2005 decision that effectively voided about 1,500 photo radar tickets after an appeal by six francophones. The six argued in court that the tickets violated their language rights because certain elements, such as the vehicle description and the fine payment deadline, weren't written in French as well as English. As residents in the Riel area of St. Norbert, St. Vital and St. Boniface, which has official bilingual status, the six francophones said they were entitled under the Charter to bilingual tickets.

A trial judge agreed, but the province appealed the decision in order to clarify how broadly the ruling applies and whether all kinds of other tickets issued in francophone neighbourhoods must be bilingual.

Three appeals court justices upheld the original ruling Monday. The ruling applies only to photo radar tickets.

The city has already rejigged its tickets so they comply with the ruling.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 24, 2009 A7

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