Why Winnipeg's parking-snitch plan failed

The Winnipeg Parking Authority pitched a plan to city hall that would make it possible for the public to report illegally parked vehicles by submitting photos.

It didn’t take long for city council to park the plan. The public works committee voted in favour of temporarily stopping the plan from being pursued further.

Both councillors and the public expressed concern, saying it sounded like people were being encouraged to "snitch" on their neighbours, and they worried it would pit Winnipeggers against each other.

It isn't the first time the city, or the province, has explored the option of asking Manitobans to report their neighbours for bad behaviour. We chart some of the more notable snitching schemes over the years, we hear from Len Eastoe, a former police officer and founder of Traffic Ticket Experts, about the flaws in this latest plan, and Arthur Schaefer, a University of Manitoba ethics expert, shares his take on why this pitch got people talking for all the wrong reasons.