OHTA.ca

Part One

In the third week of April 2009, I was a passenger in a vehicle that didn't even get a chance to finish parking in a gravel parking lot when O.P.P. rolled up next to us. The constable asked the driver the ususal and asked me if I had identification. I did not. I was asked my name and date of birth. Approx 10 mins later the constable gave me a NOTICE OF SUSPENSION OF DRIVERS LICENCE. I was speachless for a few moments as this was the first I've ever heard of this. I then asked the constable why the licence was suspended and was told that they don't specifically know why.

I've been trying to get a hold of THE DEFAULT FINES CONTROL CENTRE of THE MINISTRY OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL at 60 Queen West, Toronto, as indicated on the backside of the notice, to find out exactly why it's suspended, but no one ever returns my messages or answers the phone when it does ring.

Questions:

Q 1. What are the ways to find out why a Drivers Licence is suspended (phone numbers, URL's, e-mails, etc..) other than from the default fines centre?

Q 2. Who do I talk to in order to settle this matter and get my Drivers Licence back in good standing? (a Justice of the Peace, the Attorney General of Ontario, etc..)

Part Two

The Ministry of Transportaion has 2 addresses for me. The first is a mailing address (which I've made it clear numerous times that this mailing address is the one I want all MTO letters sent to), and the second is a defunct residing address. I have told them as well as sent in a letter notifying that I no longer reside there and that I have no residing address of my own, but they will not permit NFA (no fixed address) and/or N/A (none available) to appear on the actual licence card. They have advised me to simply leave the last known address until I can get one of my own. (Maybe I drive truck and sleep in the back, maybe I travel a lot, maybe Im not in the country much, maybe Im retired and drive a RV all over north america. I prefer not to go into why I have no residing address of my own, at the moment, unless it's important to resolving this licence suspension.)

Q 3. Could I have gotten a ticket or something that was sent to the old residing address rather than the prefered mailing address, and unknown to me, the matter went soo far that my Drivers Licence became suspended (like for a non payment of a fine or something) ?

Q 4a. Can this happen? Having a suspended licence because the MTO mailed things to a place other than my known mailing address? (Im sure who ever lives there now sent it back or marked out the residential address and put it back in the mail as in RETURN TO SENDER) Am I at fault here if this is indeed what happened?

Q 4b. If I am at fault, how can I go about clearing this up?

Q 4c. If I am NOT at fault (as in the MTO admin office personnelle mailed items to wrong address) how do I clear this up?

Q 5. Where can I find case law links for matters similar to this?

Q 6. Will this affect my insurance premiums, or don't they look at things like this?

I would like to thank you all in advance for your time and help, I very much appreciate it.

Do you have unpaid fines or owe child support??

Check here:http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statut ... 0h08_e.htm in section XIII. Those are the license suspension laws. Best of luck.

This is conjecture on my part but likely your licence was suspended and you got a notice in the mail from MTO. They would have sent it to the address on your driver's licence. The letter was likely returned and they could not find you. The officer DID find you and handed you the notice. You were actually lucky because if you were driving and they stopped you, you would be in major trouble.

You probably know why your licence has been suspended. You were supposed to pay something to someone and didn't or it was the penalty for doing something illegal. MTO provides info here.

Depending on the situation you can deal with MTO or a JP.

MTO example: license suspended for support deduction order. You would have to clear the outstanding debt or change the order retroactively.

JP example: You did not get a notice of trial or a notice of conviction in the mail. This resulted in a licence suspension. You can ask the JP to reinstate your licence and order a new trial.

You will have to explain your address situation and show what reasonable steps you took to have that information correct on your driver's licence.

Notice of Licence Suspension is just that.....you were notified that your licence is suspended......no fine, nothing. If you drive from this point forward until the MTO re-instates the licence you could face huge fines etc.

The officer probably gave you a piece of paper which notified you your licence was under suspension. On the paper is the suspension number and a basic reason for the suspension

(IE: demerit points, unpaid fines, fail to pay child support)

Go onto MTO online and update your address. You only have 6 days from the time you move to change the address. I have know "snowbirds" using just their mailing address as their home address as they live in their RV, I have also seen truck drivers use their employers business as their home address as they live out of their truck.

If all else fails, get a lift over to the MTO licence office and find out what your licence suspension is for and find out how to rectify the situation