My good buddy Dave Bouthillier is fighting the ridiculous fine imposed by the city of MTL and the police. Dave was given a whopping 628$ ticket for skateboarding (even though he was just standing around) at Montreal’s “Peace Park” on the corner of St. Laurent Blvd. / René Lévesque Blvd.
Skateboarding at peace Park has helped – not hindered. It’s brought people who are not junkies to an area of town which was lost/dangerous in the past years. No doubt having skaters there has made it somewhat safer.
The most interesting part to this is that Dave is right in the middle of a full length documentary about the spot/the culture and people surrounding it which has received hefty support from provincial and federal arts-funding juries.
I have known dave since he was in grade 8. He’s a great guy with a good heart. Do what you can to support Dave and spread the word. His summons date is March 23 in Montreal Municipal Court.
This is truly not what I want my tax dollars used for. Maybe you feel the same.
Well, the city has a budget deficit for this year and I guess they have decided that just making more laws and charging higher fines (taxation without representation) is one way they will fix it.
I mean, what? Do we expect them to actually make sane and responsible decisions about how to run the city? Should they really stop practicing the cronyism, nepotism and lining of their pockets that they have been for years? Sheeesh, we’ll mess up their sweet gig!
I have written to the mayor of Montréal as a start:
http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=163,261805&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
Not sure who else I should contact? Any ideas?
I feel the pain!
I just got a $315.00!!!!! ticket for urinating on an abandoned building.
There is something definitely up with these coppers.
Serve and Protect…questionable.
I took your example, Stevey, and sent this:
Dear Mayor Tremblay,
I’m writing you today to bring to your attention the case of Mr. David Bouthiller.
The Gazette has an article about his situation here: http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/fp/Skateboarding+advocate+fight+ticket/1353587/story.html
Steve Bissonnette has also written about it on his Montréal based blog, which brought my attention to the case:
https://steveycom.mystagingwebsite.com/2009/03/05/dave-and-the-628-skateboarding-ticket-in-mtl/
Dave is facing a 628$ fine from the Montréal police for skateboarding at Montreal’s Peace Park, at the corner of St-Laurent and René Lévesque. He is facing a summons on March 23rd and intends to fight the case.
David is a good citizen and an artist. He truly loves Montréal and I see this as an injustice.
This is, in my humble opinion, especially true provided that Peace Park is in fact being saved by skateboarding and similar activities (bmx, inline skating). I use the word saved because this park is nothing but a well-known breeding ground for drug dealers and other thugs, who actually end up steering clear instead, thanks to the increased activity which brings attention to their presence.
Your understanding and thoughtfulness would be most appreciated by our ever increasing segment of the Montreal voters: skateboarders, bmx and mountain bikes riders, inline skaters.
Yours sincerely,
Stephane Daury
Montréal, Quebec
Good work Steph !! Thanks for the support. I grew up skating with dave and “mentored” (for lack of a better term) him for a bit when he was young.
You can actually contact the Police Representative at any City Hall meetings (held monthly). You can always try to SHAME them into downgrading the ticket.
For more info:
Hôtel de ville
275, rue Notre-Dame Est?Montréal (Québec)?H2Y 1C6?Téléphone : 311?Extérieur de Montréal : 514 872-0311??Ouvert du lundi au vendredi?de 8 h 30 à 16 h 30?sans interruption
http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=87,1424043&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
At the end of every meeting there is a question period. Believe me, you’d be surprised how it pays to complain to city hall.
Pour se renseigner en tout temps
Composez le 311, ce numéro vous assure un accès rapide et constant à l’information dont vous avez besoin.
Great idea Rick !
Received a reply:
(sounds like they’ve fwd-ed the message on to the people rick mentioned)
What you need to do is send a note to the people as well – the contact info for Ruth should be available – somewhere. It may not help him with the ticket – but it may keep others from suffering the same fate. May even show the city the need for MORE SKATE SPOTS. It’s great that every suburban burrough has a small skatepark – there are NONE in the city. There should be.
Wow,
Thank you so much for the support. I’m going to try and contact the Police Representative at the City Hall meeting this month.
Much respect.
David
D: Let me know how it goes. Anything else I can post/update/do for you — just say the word and I’ll try my best. – S
One more reply:
I lost in court yesterday… there is a write up about it in todays Gazette.
Again, Thank you to everyone. The scary thing is that I can only imagine that policing and ticketing will get worse. What will be the consequences for skateboarding in 5 years … $1200… jail?
I know that guy… and I heard about it because I know the cop…
and Dave was like… you don’t know me, I’m crazy Dave.
attitude time.
this is not peace park but “place de la pais”
also ticket is not more than 600$ for no reason… that’s impossible. Mr Dave did something bad out of skating for sure… or it’s because it’s not the first one. Stop skating this pieac of shit spot and that’s it…
or your not that “crazy Dave” and I’m wrong.
But I know a story with a “I’m crazy Dave”
This last statement from Ben is false.
The police told me to leave the park even though I wasn’t skateboarding, and added that if I was still present when he returned he would give me a ticket, which he did.
Also, several tickets for 600 dollars have been handed out, I was not the first, I was only the first to speak out.
Legalize Skateboarding! it’s what we do it’s, it’s who we are!