Tag: fines

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Cottage Life

Ontario government proposes fines for overtaking snowplows on highways

Photo by Shutterstock/Benoit Daoust

Passing a slow-moving snowplow may cost you, if the Ontario government passes its newest bill.

On April 3, the provincial government introduced its Less Red Tape, Stronger Economy Act 2023. The bill includes 42 initiatives that, if passed, are intended to improve public services, grow businesses, and save people time.

One of the proposed initiatives is an amendment to the Highway Traffic Act. The amendment would make it an offence to overtake working snowplows in a diagonal formation on a multi-lane highway with a posted speed limit of 80 km/h or higher. The fine for passing would be between $150 and $1,000.

“The proposed amendments are intended to reduce unsafe passing maneuvers and collisions occurring by motorists overtaking snowplows performing winter maintenance activities on these roadways. Fewer collisions with snowplows will result in improved safety for snowplow operators and the travelling public, fewer snowplows being placed out of service, and less impact on snow clearing activities on these highways,” the province said in a statement.

Drivers would only be allowed to pass the snowplow if a full lane was available to complete the maneuver. This means that if plows are working in each lane of the highway, you can’t maneuver into an oncoming lane to get around them. In fact, the government says that passing a working snowplow even if a lane is available can be dangerous.

Visibility around the snowplow is often reduced due to blowing snow and the snow ridge created by the plow. And while most plows discharge snow to the right, there are some vehicles that discharge to the left, blocking passing lanes. Plus, it’s likely the road ahead hasn’t been cleared.

Instead, it’s recommended that you wait until plows have cleared your route before hitting the road. But if you do get stuck behind one, stay approximately 10 car lengths back and be patient.  The plow may pull over and let you pass.

The provincial government is asking the public to weigh in on the snow plow amendment before the new act is voted on. You can leave a comment here until May 18.

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Mobile Syrup

Tile threatens $1 million fine for doing crimes with Bluetooth trackers

Bluetooth tracker maker Tile wants to tamp down on people using trackers for crimes like stalking by threatening to slap users with a $1 million USD fine. The fine was announced as part of a new program that will also ask users to verify their identity with a government ID and allow Tile to share information with law enforcement.

Bluetooth tracking devices fell under increased scrutiny after Apple joined the game with its AirTag tracker. While the devices were intended for uses — like keeping track of important items like keys or wallets, or as anti-theft devices — trackers gained a more nefarious reputation as tools used by stalkers and thieves.

Plenty of reports have surfaced about people using AirTags to stalk people. There were also several vehicle thefts, including in Toronto, that involved slipping an AirTag or other Bluetooth tracker onto a car so thieves could find it later.

Thanks to the scrutiny, Apple and other tracker companies like Tile rushed out new anti-stalking features that enable victims to find unwanted trackers. The problem with that is that those tools can also help thieves spot trackers on stolen goods, effectively killing trackers’ anti-theft capabilities. Tile’s solution is a new ‘Anti-Theft Mode’ that hides it from the ‘Scan and Secure‘ anti-stalking feature, but only if users verify their ID and agree to the fine.

“All Tile customers now have the option to make their devices invisible to Scan and Secure, meaning thieves will not be able to misuse our stalking prevention features to locate and disable a Tile device after stealing your valuables,” Chris Hulls explained in a blog post shared on Medium. Hulls is the founder and CEO of Life360, the company that owns Tile.

Hulls goes on to detail that Tile users need to manually opt-in to the feature and when they do so, they must:

  1. “Verify their real identity with a government-issued ID”
  2. “Allow [Tile] to partner and share this information with law enforcement (even without a subpoena if stalking is suspected)”
  3. “Agree to pay a $1 million penalty if they are convicted in a court of law to have used Tile in a criminal manner”

Maybe it’s just me, but that seems like a pretty wild set of conditions just to use a Tile tracker in a specific way. Sure, you don’t need to do any of this, but even so, it seems shady. Moreso considering Life360’s history — the company offered a family-safety app that let people track the location of family members and got caught selling the precise location data of users of that app in late 2021 and in 2022 promised to switch to selling aggregate location data instead.

Elsewhere in the blog post, Hulls stresses that those who are “part of the 99.99% of our customers who follow the law” have nothing to worry about. “If you’re a criminal, we’ll do our best to make sure you feel the full weight of the law and face serious financial consequences if you misuse our products.”

To be fair to Hulls, he also dedicated a large amount of the blog post to dissecting the stalking problem and examining how solutions from Tile and Apple have worked (or failed) so far. It’s all very informative, though it doesn’t lead me to the conclusion that I should willingly hand over more of my data to Tile (I do, however, agree about increasing penalties for stalking since it’s a pervasive problem not limited to users of Bluetooth trackers).

Source: Tile Via: Android Police

Categories
Cottage Life

Timmins man fined for leaving his camper trailer on Crown land

Photo by Shutterstock/dvande

Turns out storing your camper trailer on Crown land can come with a hefty price tag. On April 8, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) announced that it was fining Ralph Miller of Timmins, Ont. $7,000 for leaving his camper trailer and personal belongings on Crown land over the 21-day limit.

In January 2018, a conservation officer encountered Miller’s camper at the Pharand Lake boat launch, approximately an hour and a half southwest of Timmins. The trailer remained there over the winter, exceeding the 21-day limit for camping on Crown land. In May, conservation officers ticketed Miller and told him to move his camper. Miller neither paid his ticket nor moved his camper.

Over the winter of 2019, Miller left his camper in the same location. When discovered by conservation officers, they charged Miller under the Public Lands Act and removed his camper from the site.

Justice of the Peace Jean-Marie Blier presided over the case, but Miller failed to attend any of his scheduled court dates. Finally, on March 24, 2022, Blier heard the case remotely in the Ontario Court of Justice, in Timmins, and found Miller guilty during a trial in absentia, fining him $7,000.

In some regards, Miller got off light. According to the MNRF, failing to remove personal property from Crown land can constitute a maximum fine of $15,000, with an additional fine of $1,000 for each day the offence continues. If it’s a second offence, it can warrant up to a $25,000 fine.

Under Ontario’s Public Lands Act, all Canadian citizens are allowed to camp on Crown land for free for a maximum of 21 days. After that 21 days, you need to move your camping equipment a minimum of 100 metres from your previous site to be entitled to another 21 days. You’re then not allowed to camp on your previous site for an entire year.

Not all Crown land is open to camping, though. You can check which Crown land locations are available for camping here. The MNRF advises that you check before heading out as you could be fined for camping on prohibited Crown land.

Non-residents can also camp on Crown land, but if you’re a non-resident camping north of the Mattawa and French Rivers, you must purchase a permit through Service Ontario. It costs $9.35 per person per night. Even with a permit, non-residents are still restricted to the 21-day limit.

“As with all campers, the 21-day temporary use ensures that sites are available to others and helps reduce environmental impacts,” the MNRF said in an email.

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