The owner of Mister Twister ice cream trucks says Mississauga bylaw enforcement officers are "harassing" his drivers to such a degree that he's finding it impossible to do business in the city.

Amo Blazys said that in the month of May alone, his fleet of 15 trucks received 22 tickets, totaling almost $10,000 in fines. Drivers typically get nailed for two offences: Offering Goods for Sale ($380) and Operating an Ice Cream Truck ($380).

He said five of his drivers have quit because of bylaw harassment. Under a Mississauga bylaw, ice cream trucks are only allowed to sell ice cream at industrial/ commercial areas and at condominium and townhouse complexes. While vending on residential streets is prohibited, bylaw enforcement officers have more or less turned a blind eye to such infractions in the past.

Mr. Blazys said he feels he's now being singled out. Several years ago, he said Mississauga bylaw officers were "hammering" his trucks so hard that he launched civil litigation against the city and some individuals. (He eventually dropped the lawsuits due to mounting costs.)

However, he said things improved immeasurably when Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion -- who he claims is "a big fan of ice cream trucks" -- conducted a meeting five years ago in which she told the bylaw department to "back off" in regard to ice cream trucks.

"The Mayor was furious [with the bylaw department]," said Mr. Blazys, who attended the meeting. "She said, 'I can't believe this [ticketing] -- every time I see an ice cream truck people go crazy for them.' She put her fist down on the table and told bylaw officers not to follow ice cream trucks around the city and that they had better things to do."

Since that meeting, Mr. Blazys said ice cream trucks have enjoyed a harmonious relationship in Mississauga, serving 160,000 Mississauga residents per week during the warm weather months.

However, that changed as of last month. Not only did Mister Twister drivers get ticketed, but he claims bylaw officers are harassing his employees. One driver was "lectured to for an hour." Another driver, tired of being constantly followed by bylaw officers, ended up quitting. "He couldn't take it anymore," Mr. Blazys said. One driver, Todorko Dimitrova, was fined $360 last weekend for "serving customers on a highway."

Rules regarding ice cream trucks vary depending on the municipality. Mr. Blazys said he has very little trouble in Toronto, where ice cream trucks have been licensed since 1958. Brampton, however, "can be a nightmare," as that city also prohibits vending on residential streets and its bylaw officers "like to hammer" ice cream trucks.

Elaine Buckstein, director of enforcement for Mississauga's bylaw department, said ice cream trucks are not permitted on the city's residential streets due to potential liability. She noted that approximately 30 years ago, a girl running across a street in Windsor to buy ice cream from a truck was struck by a car.

Published: Tuesday, June 19, 2007

The girl ended up wheelchair-bound, and in the personal injury lawsuit that followed, the City of Windsor was named as one of the defendants. For this reason, Ms. Buckstein said Mississauga decided to confine the selling of ice cream to private property.

As well, she said her department gets noise complaints every week from residents who are upset with the musical chimes played by ice cream trucks.