OPP officer tickets float driver after Tavistock Santa Claus parade

Participants in the Josslin float were photographed before heading out on the parade route. Gary West photo

Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The annual Tavistock Santa Claus Parade once again delighted families on Saturday, Nov. 29, but an incident following the event has left one participant with a sour aftertaste.

“We have participated in the Tavistock parade for over 30 years,” said Scott Wagler, a New Hamburg resident and owner of Josslin Insurance, a chain with eight locations, including Tavistock, New Hamburg and Wellesley.

“Just like normal, we set up in the marshalling area (on Janelle Drive) and put our float together. We had participants from the office, their kids, and participated in the parade. We are a family business and we like our people to be involved.”

Josslin has participated in hundreds of parades over the years, but what followed was out of the ordinary for Wagler – an OPP cruiser pulled him over while he was returning to the marshalling area.

“I’m turning, checking my mirror and I see the OPP behind me with lights on. I pulled over on Jacob Street. The officer came up and asked why I didn’t pull over for him.”

Wagler said he pulled over immediately upon seeing the flashing lights and was informed by the officer that he was no longer part of the parade and was therefore required to follow the Highway Traffic Act. He was issued a ticket for having a passenger under the age of 16 without a seatbelt. At the time of the incident, four children were riding in the Ford F-150 truck bed with their mothers, and the parade was still in progress.

Along with the $240 ticket, Wagler said the officer and his partner scolded him and others.

“I got accused of not caring about safety and about the kids that I had in the back of the truck. The mothers were also accused of not giving two hoots about the safety of the kids. The officer told me he was the only one who cared about their safety.”

Wagler, an insurance broker, said the ticket will have an impact on his rates and added he is still trying to figure out what the officer was trying to accomplish, and is puzzled as to why he was pulled over.

“He told them he wasn’t going to tolerate this kind of stuff post-parade. I told him I wasn’t doing anything that I wasn’t doing five minutes ago. I’m driving 10 km/hr or less and I care about my people and I am always concerned about safety.”

Ironically, as Wagler and his team were being ticketed, he said several other pickup trucks with people in the bed drove by.

“(The officer) said he only had time to deal with me. He also gave me what looked like a ticket, but it was actually a warning for not stopping for an emergency vehicle. It would have been a $490 fine. To me, it’s a scare tactic. I didn’t take him on a police chase and I pulled over as soon as I saw him.”

Wagler said he participated in Listowel’s Christmas parade later in the day without any police involvement. He added he will likely fight the ticket in court.

“It’s not wrong. What’s on the ticket is true. I don’t know if I will have any success, but it’s more of a principle thing, not about the money. It’s more about what are we trying to do with small-town Ontario Santa Claus parades? Are we trying to promote them, hurt them?”

Wagler added that the officer tracked down members of the Tavistock Men’s Club, the parade organizers, and told them it was their fault the ticket was issued.

Despite his frustration at what occurred following the parade, he said the police still have his full support for the difficult job they do.

“I am not trying to tarnish the OPP. There is a huge need for community policing, and I support the tough job the men and women on the force do. We all care about safety but I am trying to understand what the goal of the OPP was in this case and generally with small-town parades.”

The Gazette reached out to Oxford OPP for comment. While OPP confirmed the ticket was issued, a spokesperson would not comment further.