Several Ontario municipalities are pushing back on Premier Doug Ford’s planned speed camera ban, urging him to tweak the program instead of outright cancelling it — but if he forges ahead, they say the province should foot the bill.
Ford has announced that his government will introduce legislation this month to prohibit the use of speed cameras across the province.
Regions that use the cameras, as well as a study by the Hospital for Sick Children and Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), have data showing they reduce speeding.
But Ford maintains they don’t work and calls them a “cash grab” for municipalities.
More than 20 municipalities state in a letter to the premier and Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria that the money collected from fines is allocated toward road safety measures.
“A total ban would reverse years of progress on safety,” voiced mayors in the letter. “It would place more pressure on police, increase enforcement costs, and most critically, endanger lives.”
Included in the letter to the premier are a few local voices, including Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe, Cambridge Mayor Jan Liggett, and Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie.
They say that if the province intends to ban all of those cameras, even those in school zones, it should fully reimburse municipalities for the lost revenues that were being used for traffic calming, staff severance costs, and increases in municipal policing costs.
“For most of us, the intention has always been to install cameras in school zones to protect our most vulnerable residents — our children,” the letter reads. “We urge you to provide a carve-out to allow municipalities to continue to deploy ASE in school zones, and work with municipalities to improve understanding, effectiveness, and community engagement.”
