Gananoque, Ont., mayor wants to clamp down on Quebec parking scofflaws — literally

MONTREAL – The mayor of a town in eastern Ontario is proposing a clamp down on Quebec drivers who incur parking tickets.

In a new directive posted in August, Gananoque Mayor John Beddows asked town staff to study the possibility of amending parking bylaws to allow a clamp to be placed on the tire of ticketed Quebec-plated vehicles.

The mayor’s directive also proposes a new class of parking ticket that would include the full cost of clamping and unclamping the vehicle.

Coun. David Osmond criticized the proposal in a Facebook post, suggesting it singles out Quebec tourists and risks discouraging them from visiting.

“Nothing says ‘thanks for coming’ like a custom parking enforcement for one of our largest tourism demographics,” he wrote in August following the document’s publication. 

But Beddows, in his own social media post, said Ontario doesn’t have an agreement with Quebec on parking ticket enforcement, meaning Quebecers face no consequences if they don’t pay. 

“The question becomes: Why should Ontarians generally and residents of Gananoque specifically have to pay for parking or face fines with consequences for nonpayment when visitors do not?” he wrote. “What good is a rule if it isn’t enforceable and some people pay but others don’t?”

Beddows noted that the 27-point directive also included proposals to reduce parking rates, and eliminate them for municipally-owned handicapped parking spots at the waterfront.

The directive comes after Ontario expanded so-called strong mayor powers to an additional 169 municipalities this year, including Gananoque. The powers — which critics have called undemocratic — include allowing heads of council to propose bylaws and pass them with the support of one-third of councillors, veto bylaws and hire and fire department heads.

They also allow mayors to direct staff to undertake research and provide advice on policies and programs, as Beddows did.

In an email on Tuesday, Osmond minimized the importance of the parking boot debate, noting that 90 per cent of tickets in Gananoque are issued to Ontario plates. He said that as a tourist destination, the 1,000 Islands region town sometimes experiences shortages near the waterfront on summer weekends, which he described as the “best problem to have and the cost of doing business.”

He said the 5,383-person town has a special appreciation for its Quebec neighbours, and hosts an annual festival highlighting French-speaking culture.

However, Osmond said the parking debate is part of a larger discussion around how strong mayor powers should be used in Ontario.  

“This decision by the province was intended to be a new tool to help with housing, and now we are talking about boots on cars as part of a $25 million municipal budget because of strong mayor powers,” he wrote. “I don’t think this is what the province was anticipating.”

He said council has unanimously passed a motion calling for further discussion of the strong mayor directives at the next meeting in mid-September. “So we are moving in a collaborative direction already,” he wrote.

If retained, the measures could be included in Gananoque’s upcoming budgets.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2025.