Numbers show Montreal is the ticket capital of Quebec

Welcome to Montreal, ticket capital of Quebec.

Police in this city give out an average of 148,000 tickets a month, more than double the number of tickets given out in seven other large Quebec cities combined.

Those cities only gave 61,000 in the same period.

Critics say it's more proof of the city's ticket quota system and that it's unfair to Montrealers.

The latest figures were obtained by La Presse under access to information requests.

Traffic ticket lawyer Avi Levy's business is booming and he's not surprised.

“I think the last time I looked it was about $150 or $160 million a year in tickets that's a lot of tickets,” he said.

Many of those tickets go to drivers coming off the highway and into areas with lower speed limits.

The police union says that officers are posted nearby so that they can hide and trap drivers

President Yves Francoeur says speed traps exist so officers can meet their quotas on tickets.

He believes officers should not be forced to hand out as many as 16 tickets per day.

“The street users, the pedestrians, they have to be the only concerns not to bring money to the city hall,” he said.

Mayor Denis Coderre says you can't compare Montreal to a group of other cities because many people transit through Montreal, and he says the union is just working an angle ahead of contract talks.

“You know it's diversion it's a matter of union versus the employer so we'll tell them Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year too,” he said.