Troy Fandrick rides his motorcycle without a helmet in this file photo from November 2018.

By Alex McCuaig

Constitutional challenge

Helmet law challenge inches closer to trial date

May 27, 2020 | 4:30 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – A local motorcycle enthusiast is one step closer to a court hearing as he looks to overturn four tickets for not wearing a helmet using a constitutional argument based on the exemption provided to turban-wearing Sikhs.

Troy Fandrick was issued his first ticket a few weeks after the provincial government provided the exemption in April 2018 and subsequently received three more.

But Fandrick says the issue is fundamentally about the equal application of the law. He stated that if discretion is given to one group to wear helmets, that option should be provided to all groups.

“We live in a democracy. We live in a rule of law country,” said Fandrick outside the Medicine Hat Provincial Court on Wednesday. “The law itself, by definition, is a rule adopted by society that applies equally to all of its citizens. To unfairly apply it to certain groups – to allow them to ignore a law that they have said repeatedly that it’s so detrimental to our safety that we are not allowed to make the decision – is unconstitutional.”

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Fandrick says the fines are $150 for each violation and come with no demerits but is fighting on the principal of the matter and has enlisted a Vancouver-based lawyer to argue his case.

A court date is expected to be set in the next few weeks on the matter.