A RECENT SUPREME Court of Canada decision will allow a local woman’s $26 million class-action lawsuit against the city to proceed.

Plaintiff Anna Marie Arenson said she was parked outside of Duff’s Restaurant on Bayview Avenue and was issued a $30 parking ticket after she failed to display a parking permit on Nov. 22, 2007.

According to her lawyer’s statement of claim, Arenson was unable to obtain a receipt from the parking machine because it appeared to be frozen as a result of cold temperatures.

Returning to her vehicle after a family dinner at Duff ’s approximately an hour later, she found she had been issued a ticket.

The $26 million figure stems from an approximation as to how many similar tickets could have been issued due to frozen meters and other failures since the city installed them in 1998.

“I expect to win,” said Ken Arenson, the plaintiff ’s lawyer and ex-husband when asked what chance the lawsuit stands at being successful. “I would not sue otherwise.”

The filed claim states that should it be impractical to efficiently distribute award damages to all those affected, the money would be used to create a trust for studies and advocacy on better parking practices and better parking instrumentation.