Motorists with licence plates from other provinces have been used to getting free spots downtown, metered or not, weekend or no, Mayor Clive Tolley said, but that practice is not consistent or fair — and it is over.
“Several weeks ago … I inquired about out-of-town/province parking tickets. People were coming to the City of Moose Jaw for many years from other provinces, and it was kind of a habit — perhaps not a policy, but a habit — that we were not (giving parking tickets to them.)
“I had several people contact me, very irate about this, so I made the inquiry,” Tolley said.
Tolley submitted the written inquiry at the regular meeting of city council on May 23 of this year.
In a June 9 answer to his inquiry, the department of legislative and enforcement services told the mayor and city council that:
“It was a long-standing practice that Moose Jaw did not ticket out-of-province licence plates for parking at a meter without paying. Moose Jaw still ticketed out-of-province drivers for other parking offences, such as parking too close to a fire hydrant. This practice was not reflected in a bylaw or official policy of the City.”
The city’s traffic bylaw grants three exceptions for free parking in a metered parking stall, including vehicles with a placard issued by the Saskatchewan Abilities Council, who may park for up to three hours without paying; vehicles with a veteran’s licence plate, who can park for free for the time limit prescribed on the meter for the space; and city and police, as long as the operator is engaged in public works or police duties.
According to the report, the practice began changing sometime between 2018 and 2020, beginning with discussions by the City of Moose Jaw Strategic Planning Committee.
The change was spurred at least in part by a desire to increase revenues from parking. However, it was also recognized that the practice was inconsistent, and that some actual residents of the city — such as students at Sask Polytech, who do not need to re-register with Saskatchewan licence plates — were taking advantage of the "habit" to use metered stalls as their permanent parking spot.
Coincidentally, the report noted, the Tourism Centre stopped issuing free parking passes for tourists around the same time.
Mayor Tolley said he was satisfied with that report and with enforcing the bylaw consistently.
“I just wanted to make that public announcement so that people will know, and they can tell their friends and family that are coming to visit this summer,” the mayor said. “People that are coming from other provinces to park in downtown Moose Jaw can expect to use the parking meters the same as the rest of us, and use our (HotSpot) parking app, which we are encouraging.
“You can’t park downtown with an out-of-province license plate and expect to get free parking. The same rules apply to everybody.”
