Updated Jan 13, 2021, 10:50am
Last Tuesday, Derrick Dixon, owner of Hounds of Vintage clothing shop on York Street in Sackville, got in a borrowed car and made the trip to the closest provincial courthouse in Moncton.
Dixon was showing up to contest a ticket he had received six weeks before, from RCMP Constable Christophe Bertrand, for non-compliance with the Emergency Measures Act. It’s a ticket that Dixon feels was unfairly given, after he commented to the officers that he felt their presence was “a bit much” and potentially anxiety-inducing.
Dixon got to the courthouse before his assigned time, and waited for about an hour outside the courtroom. By the time he was called in, he was told he didn’t need to be there.
“I was in there for about 30 seconds,” says Dixon. “And they said that the ticket hadn’t been laid, which I guess means it wasn’t submitted. I was free to go.”
If you think Dixon’s first reaction was relief, you’d be mistaken. Frustration is more like it.
Dixon had gone to Moncton after weeks of worry and planning in order to formally contest the ticket which he believes was issued for the wrong reasons.
“I was really hoping to sort of have a record of how I felt about the whole incident,” says Dixon. “But now it’s kind of like it doesn’t even exist.”
“Obviously the ticket wasn’t given for any legitimate reason if it didn’t even make it that far,” says Dixon. “So yeah, I’m feeling pretty frustrated right now.”
Dixon was issued the ticket in November after two officers visited his store for a compliance check. At first, the officers issued a compliance order to Dixon, for not having a copy of his operational plan behind his counter. The compliance order gave Dixon 24 hours to correct his mistake, which he told CHMA at the time was “totally fine.”
“I think that it’s good that the protocols are being monitored,” he told CHMA in November.
But then, when Dixon commented on the fact that the officers visit was “a bit much” and possibly “anxiety-inducing for people,” one of the officers asked him for his ID and proceeded to write him a ticket.
The ticket, which Dixon posted on social media, is for non-compliance with the Emergency Measures Act, and comes with a fine of $292.50. After considering his options and consulting others, Dixon decided he would not pay the ticket, but would contest it in court.
“I felt pretty confident based on all the conversations I’ve had with people that the ticket was would get thrown out,” says Dixon, which adds to his frustration in not getting his day in court.
Dixon says the RCMP didn’t inform him that the ticket wasn’t submitted, and that they also haven’t been back to his shop to check on the compliance order they issued at the same time as the ticket, back on November 24, 2020.
With some help from MLA Megan Mitton’s office, Dixon has a list of people to call to inform them of what happened. “I do want there to be a record of this,” says Dixon. “Because clearly, they gave me a ticket for a reason that has nothing to do with safety. And I think that there just needs to be some accountability there.”
Dixon says he, “can think of a few reasons why,” he was issued the ticket.
“I can’t not think about the fact that a few days before this incident the report came out saying that the RCMP harbours an environment of racism, homophobia and misogyny,” says Dixon.
He’s referring to a report by former Supreme Court justice Michel Bastarache which came out November 19, 2020. In the report, Bastarache wrote that, “a toxic culture prevails in the RCMP. This culture encourages, or at least tolerates, misogynistic, racist and homophobic attitudes among many members of the RCMP.”
“For them to give me a ticket in a space that’s very, boldly queer,” says Dixon, “I don’t know.”
“Statistically and historically, queer people are over policed by the RCMP,” says Dixon. “So that doesn’t sit very well with me, even though it’s a really hard thing to prove. But it’s definitely something that I feel in my gut.”
“The underlying status quo of my life is people who are not queer, interacting with me differently than they will with other people,” says Dixon.
Dixon is hoping that by documenting his experience and telling people about it, there’s a chance that someone might learn from it.
“If I put this complaint forward, the most that I can hope for is that someone who reads this along the line will just take a minute to reflect on that, and their own interactions with other people,” says Dixon.
Dixon says he appreciates the support he received from community members in response to the incident.
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