Lisa Scott
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 19/05) - A Supreme Court justice stayed all charges against a single, homeless mother last week, in a precedent-setting case that may change the way the city collects unpaid fines.

The Supreme Court threw out charges against Sherry Boulet last week, saying the homeless woman was unfairly jailed after being arrested for unpaid fines and sent to jail for three days last month. The case may change the way the city collects fines. - NNSL file photo

The ruling means municipal enforcement officers have been violating the criminal code since 1996 by hauling people off to jail for outstanding fines, says legal aid lawyer Margo Nightingale.

"There have been a lot of people who have been held in jail in the last nine years who probably shouldn't have been," she said after the judgement for her client, Sherry Boulet.

Boulet spent three days in an RCMP holding cell after being arrested by a municipal enforcement officer for unpaid fines while she attempted to retrieve her car at an impound lot in September. She had no money to pay her fines.

Boulet's case may cause the city's system of retrieval for speeding fines and other offenses to crumble.

Right now, a warrant of committal is issued for anyone with outstanding fines, be it a speeding ticket or a ticket for driving without a seatbelt. Municipal enforcement officers can then arrest the offenders, which usually occurs when they are stopped in a routine check or for another offense.

Most people pay the fines on the spot or get the cash before being jailed, municipal enforcement manager Doug Gillard said last month.

In September, there were 100 such warrants out for tickets ranging from $80 to $1,000 in Yellowknife.

Nightingale argued that instead of being arrested, those people are entitled to a court hearing.

She referred to a 1996 change to the Criminal Code that safeguards against people being imprisoned simply because they are too poor to pay the fine.

Boulet is one of those people, says Nightingale, but she was left to sit in the holding cell instead.

Would have had 400 hearings

Loretta Bouwmeester, legal counsel for the city, agreed in court that Boulet should have had a hearing, but added that if the city followed that procedure for every unpaid fine, the courts would have been full with more than 400 hearings last year alone.

Bouwmeester conceded to drop the issue against Boulet, saying the city was satisfied that she had paid off her debt with the jail time.

She called the situation a test case and referred to the "far reaching consequences" of some of the decisions surrounding the case.

As for how the case may change the way the city collects on unpaid fines, she said decisions would be made once the city reviews the judge's written decisions in the case.

"We're looking forward to receiving her reasons for the decision and those should be of assistance to all parties to determine our next steps," said Bouwmeester.

Nightingale was relieved as she left court.

"I'm surprised it took this long. I'm pleased," she said.