The Ticket Clinic

How Can a Paralegal from The Ticket Clinic Help You?

The Ticket Clinic is a division of Aitken Robertson Professional Corporation that is dedicated strictly to fighting provincial offences as governed by the Provincial Offences Act in Ontario. There are an incredible number of provincial offences – each created by a vast and ever growing series of statutes given power by the provincial government. The most common statute is the Highway Traffic Act (HTA for short). The HTA is one of the longest provincial statutes we have in Ontario as it deals with every day matters relating to the safe practices of driving. Offences such as “careless driving,” “speeding,” “stunt driving or racing,” “driving with no insurance” and anything else you can think of that can happen while you are in a car, are all governed by the Highway Traffic Act. If you have a car, regardless of how safe a driver you are, there is a probable chance that at some time in your life you will come into conflict with the HTA.

You may be asking yourself “what is The Ticket Clinic?” The Ticket Clinic, as previously mentioned, is a division of Aitken Robertson Professional Corporation. But instead of dealing with individuals who have committed criminal offences, the knowledgeable and skilled paralegals at The Ticket Clinic have dedicated themselves to dealing specifically with matters concerning the Highway Traffic Act and other provincial statutes. Our paralegals have taken extensive training relating to how to defend your provincial offences charge(s).

Misconceptions About Provincial Offences

There are some misconceptions when it comes to the POA (Provincial Offences Act). One is that often enough, people who are convicted of a provincial offence believe that they now have a criminal record. This, however, is not the case. If you are convicted under any statute given power by the Provincial Offences Act, you DO NOT have a criminal record. Where does this misconception come from? The answer lies in the fact that there are some penalties imposed by a Justice of the Piece that may see an individual incarcerated in prison for a period of time. This leads to our next misconception.

Clients often ask “can go to jail for a provincial offence?” The answer to this question is that yes, in fact, you can be incarcerated for offences such as “careless driving (Part III)” or “drive suspended” under the Highway Traffic Act. Not to mention, there are many statutes that also possess imprisonment as penalties for offences such as “careless use of a firearm” under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997.

One last misconception, and another reason to hire a paralegal from The Ticket Clinic, is in dealing with a Highway Traffic Act dispute, individuals charged under the act feel that they can try to negotiate with the Justice of the Peace as to the prevention of suspending or awarding demerit points to your licence. The courts do not have power over these particular components of a POA matter as the Ministry of Transportation is responsible for anything relating to your driver’s licence and for the demerit point system and suspension of your licence on account of charges under the HTA.

By choosing a licenced paralegal from The Ticket Clinic to represent you and fight your provincial offence, they will exhaust all possible defence options, meet and negotiate with the provincial prosecutor in an attempt to get your current charge(s) reduced to something with less of a penalty (primarily: set fine) and represent you at trial if that is your chosen course of action.