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home / 世界杯决赛2022

vezina: covid fatigue and parking spots

being fined for violating certain municipal bylaws may make sense in normal times but can send mixed messages during a disaster

by alex vezina

may 31 2021
read time 3 minute read
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by: alex vezina
many people have experienced covid-19 as a slow buildup of minor annoyances.
everyone has their own unique experience of this type of progressive burnout, with their own unique grievances.
parking spots are an interesting example.
specifically, people receiving tickets for having too many vehicles outside their residence, when they believe it was caused by circumstances beyond their control.
this is a good example of how a perfect storm of events can create unique adverse impacts in a pandemic.
understanding how this happens can help identify and address some of the issues that arise because of this.
on the issue of parking spaces, when business closures started because of the pandemic 14 months ago, two things happened within many families — they became more cautious about spending money because of reduced income due to the pandemic and family members returned home, for example students in universities.
that increased the number of people living together under a single roof, while the loss of income increased their cost of living for basic necessities such as food and rent or mortgage payments.
when family members came home to live together, many brought their own vehicles.
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residences which were previously limited to one or two parking spots suddenly had three, four or five cars outside the home.

for cities like brampton and mississauga, which have large numbers of workers in essential services, telling them “just sell your car if you don’t have the parking space” is not a winning argument.
given the apprehension about using public transit during the pandemic, many people who owned their own vehicles were not going to give up their cars easily in favour of public transportation.
the result was that more people started parking on the street outside their homes or expanding their driveways by paving over lawns or laying down stone.
the problem is these things are often in direct conflict with municipal bylaws.
people who had the understanding that they were doing the right thing to protect their fellow canadians by staying home and avoiding public transit as much as possible were being fined for parking infractions.
being fined for violating certain municipal bylaws may make sense in normal times but can send mixed messages during a disaster.
this might seem like a minor issue — many of the fines are small.
but the problem comes when someone who has, for example, recently lost a family member due to covid-19 and whose funeral they could not attend, or who lost their job because of the pandemic, snaps because they wake up to a ticket on their windshield.
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are they supposed to sell the car they need for work?
sometimes people return to the family home during the pandemic to pool their financial resources in the face of lower earnings because of the pandemic and the effects of our response to it.
should they now be told to move, or sell their cars, or find a different job?
alternatively, we could exempt people for violating these types of municipal bylaws during the pandemic and forgive tickets, similar to how the ontario ministry of transportation has eased up on licence plate expirations during the pandemic.
or municipalities could develop a streamlined permit process allowing for extended use of on-street parking during the pandemic or change bylaws so they do not unfairly punish people for going about their lives in a pandemic.
we could also ignore the issue, although historically, dismissing the grievances of people who already see themselves as marginalized, treated unjustly and unfairly targeted can lead to serious adverse consequences.
— alex vezina is the ceo of prepared canada corp. and has a graduate degree in disaster and emergency management. he can be reached at info@prepared.ca

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