Alberta is pausing a move to Phase 2 of the Provincial Administrative Penalties Act and Justice Transformation Initiative next month, which would have replaced traffic court with an online process. 

MLA for Chestermere-Strathmore, Leela Sharon Aheer, thinks that it is a step in the right direction.  

“The caucus has asked for several meetings with Minister Sawhney regarding this particular piece of legislation and the transformational pieces within the justice system.”  

“On the one side, it is going to take thousands and thousands of hours, time and money out of the court space. Having said that being able to fight for your traffic ticket is an imperative part of justice.” 

More than two million traffic tickets are issued in Alberta. Of those tickets, 400,000 are challenged. This results in more than 60,000 challenges to traffic tickets receiving court dates. 

She explained that the option to fight your ticket is still possible, but it does create an economic barrier to those who can't afford to pay the extra fee to fight the ticket.  

“Previously, if you wanted to stand there all day and dispute it, and perhaps have your ticket removed or anything like that, it was just the way it was at the courthouse. However, there were serious issues of domestic violence and crime that were being put off as a result of the backlog.” 

Minister of Transportation Rajan Sawhney and Acting Minister of Justice and Solicitor General Sonya Savage have since announced that they will be laying the implementation of this program.  

“We have clearly heard from Albertans who shared their thoughts with us on traffic safety in this province. That is why we are pausing the rollout of Phase 2. 

“We will take the next 90 to 120 days to ensure that we communicate and consult with Albertans and that they are educated on the changes proposed in Phase 2. We will listen to what Albertans have to say and we will share the benefits of these changes with them.”