Several Remembrance Day observers, including veterans who parked their vehicles in a permit-only zone in Collingwood, got a rude awakening yesterday when they found parking tickets, says an eyewitness.
More than 20 cars in front of Collingwood Elementary School were charged with parking infractions, said Brian Sugden who witnessed a Calgary Parking Authority (CPA) officer issue the tickets.
"The spirit of the law is for the good of the people and ticketing these people was a very poor judgment on your officer's part," Sugden wrote in a letter to the CPA, the mayor and aldermanic offices.
"In fact, I believe he even felt embarrassed of his actions (rightfully so), as I witnessed him taking off briskly (almost running) to his car as he saw the parents and grandparents starting to exit the school," he said.
"Many of these parents and grandparents are the veterans for which the whole basis of assembly was hosted."
Sugden said he wasn't one of the vehicle owners who was ticketed by CPA because he didn't drive to the school as he lives just a block away.
The Remembrance Day assembly featured a children's choir and it ran from 10:45 a.m. to 11:14 a.m.
Upon exiting the school after the event, Sugden said that's when he saw the officer ticketing the cars parked in front of the school, where an AA parking permit is required.
"Imagine ticketing veterans at a Remembrance Day assembly," said Sugden.
"The few cars that were parked on this block for the very short time were technically parking illegally," he said.
Ald. Druh Farrell, who's responsible for the area, said she doesn't know the details of the infractions.
"Perhaps the parking authority was responding to a complaint from a resident," said Farrell.
"But without being aware of the details, we expect the parking authority to use some discretion when enforcing parking restrictions during special occasions."
Farrell said normally schools notify CPA to alert them of a school event to avoid people getting parking tickets.
A school official said since the Remembrance Day assembly was only for 30 minutes CPA wasn't notified.
RENATO.GANDIA@SUNMEDIA.CA
