John Weingust

John Weingust is a veteran lawyer in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is a Queen's Counsel, and has been involved in several high-profile cases.

Legal career

;Rights of mental health patients

Weingust represented an Ontario mental patient in a prominent human rights case during the early 1980s. The patient in question had never been charged with a criminal offense, but was held in a windowless cell at the Penetanguishene Mental Health Centre for ten years on the grounds that he was prone to violent behaviour. As his representative, Weingust planned to challenge sections of the Ontario Mental Health Act that allowed a person to be certified and imprisoned without a hearing, arguing that such policy contravened the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He withdrew his application when the patient was transferred to a medium-security facility. ["Man leaves cell after 10 years", "Globe and Mail", 28 September 1982, P5. For a similar case, see Bob Graham, "Medical neglect killed man, lawyer says", "Toronto Star", 15 October 1975, A9.]

Weingust became an adviser to the Canadian Association for the Welfare of Psychiatric Patients through his involvement in this case. [Stan Oziewicz, "New place sought for mental patient", "Globe and Mail", 19 November 1980, P5. See also Christie McLaren, "Windowless, bare cell is home for involuntary mental patient", "Globe and Mail", 19 May 1981, P5.] He lamented the state of Ontario's mental institutions in guest columns for the "Globe and Mail" newspaper, and called for significant reforms to the Mental Health Act. [John Weingust, "The shameful care of mentally ill", "Globe and Mail", 22 January 1981, P7; John Weingust, "The unjust mental health system in Ontario", "Globe and Mail", 10 December 1981, P7.] In 1984, he wrote an opinion piece against involuntary electroshock treatment. [John Weingust, "When therapy becomes assault", "Globe and Mail", 26 April 1984, P7.]

;Parking tickets

Weingust has become well-known in recent years for challenging the legality of parking tickets, mostly his own. He once claimed that he received about 60 tickets a year, and beat 59 of them. He explained to a reporter that he has studied Toronto's parking by-laws in detail, and knows how to exploit loopholes. [Jason Brooks, "A rebel with a parking spot", "Toronto Star", 31 May 2000, p. 1.] Weingust has argued that Toronto's ticketing system is essentially unjust, and is used by the municipal government for revenue rather than as a serious means of relieving traffic congestion. [John Weingust, "Toronto's shameless parking revenues", "Toronto Star", 19 September 2000, p. 1. Weingust made similar arguments about provincial traffic legislation in the 1960s. See John Weingust, "The new highway legislation does very little to increase safety", "Toronto Star", 10 April 1969, A7.]

In 2004, he argued that Ontario's Municipal Act did not grant municipalities the power to issue traffic tickets. [Jeff Gray, "No parking? No problem for this lawyer", "Globe and Mail", 15 November 2004, A12.] The court did not accept his argument. [Jeff Gray, "Parking woes? He's got just the ticket", "Toronto Star", 23 October 2006, A14.]

;Other cases

Weingust represented a tobacco farmer who had been denied a license by the Ontario Fine-Cured Tobacco Growers' Marketing Board in 1965. Weingust criticized the board's powers to destroy crops grown in contravention of its mandate, arguing that only dictatorial regimes had ever made use of such powers. [Robert McDonald, "Tobacco farmer George Sebok versus the mighty OFCTGMB", "Toronto Star", 10 September 1965, A15.]

In 1984, Weingust successfully argued before the Supreme Court of Ontario that a divorced woman should receive half of her husband's company pension. This was the first such test of the Ontario Family Law Reform Act before the Supreme Court. [Dorothy Lipovenko, "Woman awarded half of ex-spouse's pension", "Globe and Mail", 1 September 1984, P1.]

In 2002, Weingust argued that the City of Toronto had no right to charge ticket scalpers with an offense. He argued that a bylaw requiring a licence to sell "goods, wares or merchandise" did not specifically cover the sale of tickets, and therefore could not be used to prosecute scalpers. He also described scalping as a "victimless crime" that served a useful function for ordinary consumers. [Tracey Tyler, "City, scalpers face off in court", "Toronto Star", 23 May 2002, A21.] On this occasion, his argument was unsuccessful. [Oliver Moore, "Appeals court says no to ticket-seller's argument", "Globe and Mail", 20 June 2002, A18.]

Other

Weingust was appointed as Queen's Counsel in 1979. ["Cabinet ministers among new QCs", "Globe and Mail", 31 December 1979, P5.] He holds a fifth-degree black belt in Taekwon-Do. [John Weingust, "Lindros would win" [Letter] , "Toronto Star", 24 September 1996, D10. See also Bob Pennington, "Lawyer, 42, leads adult revolution", "Toronto Star", 28 September 1972, 79.]

He was a fringe candidate for Mayor of Toronto in the 2006 municipal election, describing himself as someone "who has been fighting traffic tickets for over 30 years as an advocate for motorists". [John Spears, "Debate: Issues and fairy wings", "Toronto Star", 5 October 2006.] He argued that parking tickets were a disguised form of taxation, and that they were illegal. He received 312 votes, finishing in 37th place. He was 76 years old during the campaign. [Jeff Gray, "Parking woes? He's got just the ticket", "Toronto Star", 23 October 2006, A14.]

Weingust has also written several Letters to the Editor over the years, on a variety of different subjects. [See for instance John Weingust, "Is SkyDome a sports stadium or a private club?" [Letter] , "Toronto Star", 18 February 1989, D3; John Weingust, "Beginning of anarchy" [Letter] , "Toronto Star", 20 February 1989, A6 (concerning protests against the laying of charges against two police officers); John Weingust, "Esso raised gas prices eight cents overnight" [Letter] , "Toronto Star", 13 May 1989, D3; John Weingust, "Kordic was victim of a greedy NHL" [Letter] , "Toronto Star", 23 August 1992, E8 (concerning the death of a hockey player through steroid abuse); John Weingust, "Two ways to nip photo radar in the bud", "Toronto Star", 18 August 1994, A20; John Weingust, "Eye-for-an-eye justice", "Globe and Mail", 19 August 1998, A17 (concerning his opposition to the death penalty).] An avid sports fan, he wrote a 1993 feature in the "Globe and Mail" newspaper against a trend toward brawling in hockey. [John Weingust, "Ending the reign of goons on ice", "Globe and Mail", 5 January 1993, A14.]

On September 25, 1991, the "Toronto Star" newspaper printed one of his remarks as its "quote of the day": "Justice is blind, but the jury system is its guide dog". ["Quote of the day", "Toronto Star", 25 September 1991, A1.]

Footnotes