Thursday, August 22 was an ideal day to visit the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) in Toronto, which we locals call "the Ex." It was sunny, but not too humid. It was also a fine day for a football game. So, my husband and I decided to spend some time at the Ex and then attend the Toronto Argos game at BMO Field on the CNE grounds.
We prefer taking the GO train to the Es, so we parked our car near the Mimico GO station. There were many unoccupied reserved parking spaces close to the station. We could have parked illegally in one of them, but we didn't. Instead of taking our chances by parking in a reserved space, we chose to park our vehicle a little further away, on Wesley St. After a short walk, we caught the next train to the Ex.
After an enjoyable time at the fair and at the football game, we caught a GO train back to the Mimico station. We soon noticed an unpleasant surprise on our windshield - a yellow parking ticket. At first we were mystified because we hadn't noticed any NO PARKING signs where we parked. However, we were fined $40 for parking longer than three hours. Again, we were mystified. We hadn't seen any sign informing us that there was a time limit. Is the city so cash strapped that it is handing out parking tickets here, there and everywhere?
It seems so blatantly unfair. Much more than three hours is required for a day at the Ex. We don't see how we were careless or negligent. We don't think we deserved the parking ticket. We had no idea about restricting our parking time to three hours. How were we to know when there was no sign? If we are missing something, we would like to know. We also don't want to give up taking the GO train to the Ex or to sporting events at BMO Field.
- Joanne
