SECTION 9 - PARKING LOT STOP RESULTS IN CONVICTION

On March 11, 2011 at 2:50am, Ms. McClelland was seen driving in the parking lot of JJQ’s, a bar/pool hall in Mississauga and she was stopped by police.  The Ontario Superior Court confirmed that  it is now fairly settled law in Ontario that the Ontario Highway Traffic Act does not apply to private parking lots. However the police were not acting under the statutory authority of that Act in Ms. McClelland's case. The reason the accused was pulled over initially was because she drove her car to another parking spot when the police car pulled up behind her. The evasion, combined with the fact that she was outside a bar, after last-call closing hours, is a reasonable cause for suspicion. R. v. McClelland, 2012 ONSC 7207