Blackfalds may soon advocate for the return of the licence plate at the front of cars, in the name of fighting crime.
After a conversation with local RCMP officers and other town councillors at a detachment performance meeting, the idea of advocating for returning to two licence plates for vehicles was raised.
“It just sort of came up and a few of the other councillors at the meeting also agreed to it,” said Blackfalds Mayor Richard Poole. “I said I would investigate and find out whether our council has the appetite to push it forward.”
Poole put forth the motion, asking town administration to investigate if there is enough supporting information to draft, “perhaps in conjunction and with the support from other municipalities,” a resolution to present to the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association.
Alberta has been a one-plate province since 1991. At the time, the government said it would save about $700,000.
“This is a very first step,” said Poole. “It will allow council to investigate it, it will also allow administration to look at it and find out if there is enough information and facts that would warrant us putting that motion forward.
“You don’t want to put something in without a lot of background information.”
Though most provinces and territories in Canada only require the rear plate, most vehicles in the country have plates in both the front and back. This is largely because Ontario requires two licence plates.
Saskatchewan, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nunavut and Yukon are one-plate provinces.
According to the notice of motion, returning to a two plate system could assist RCMP with improved vehicle identification of stolen vehicles and licence plates, as well as improved identification of vehicles in other criminal matters.
“An officer in front of the vehicle can look in their rear-view mirror and identify it,” said Poole. “There are a couple more ways officers can identify vehicles. I want to find out how many hard facts there are to justify the extra cost of putting on a second licence plate.”
mcrawford@reddeeradvocate.com
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