Toronto City Council has passed a motion with proposed changes to its automated speed enforcement (ASE) cameras, but Ontario Premier Doug Ford is still set on banning them.
On Wednesday, the city approved a motion, first moved by Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, with a series of changes to the program.
One of the changes includes giving ticketed drivers a grace period of seven days between their first and second ticket by the same speed camera, to allow them to get the first ticket in the mail before being fined again, and prevent repeated additional tickets. Another change proposes the installation of large, highly-visible signs near speed cameras by Oct. 31, so drivers are aware of their presence.
In addition, the city is asking the General Manager Transportation Services to provide the Ontario government and local MPPs with a map of all the ASEs and school zones in their riding, as well as notifications of death or injuries resulting from speeding in the areas.
Moreover, the motion states that the Ford government would have to provide the city with a detailed rationale for the removal of speed cameras, along with data that supports the decision.
“These actions are intended to signal to the Provincial Government that we are open to making changes, but to do away with the ASE would be a mistake that will hurt communities in Toronto and across Ontario,” a letter by Chow, linked in the motion, states.
According to the mayor, the biggest criticisms she hears from Torontonians about speed cameras are that they are a cash grab, which Ford has also said about the devices. However, the mayor is still adamant that they are an effective way to reduce accidents.
“To those critics, I suggest following the speed limit to avoid ever paying a fine,” she states.
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The motion also includes other suggestions but city council didn’t approve them. They included reducing the number of speed cameras in the city from 150 to 100, keeping them only within school zones, and programming two thirds of the cameras to only work from Monday to Friday between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.
Besides the motion, the mayor has also shared a petition to prevent the banning of the cameras.
“Instead of fixing the problem, the provincial government is trying to make it more expensive and more difficult to keep our roads safe…Sign on to keep Toronto roads safe,” she wrote on X.
FORD NOT IMPRESSED BY CHANGES
Besides Toronto’s efforts, Ford says he still plans to move ahead with the ban.
Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, the premier reiterated that he believes speed cameras are a “cash grab” and not effective in reducing accidents.
“If you want to continue making it a cash grab and not looking at alternatives, we have an alternative to put infrastructure…They don’t want to do that, they want to continue to collect hundreds of millions of dollars and continue speeding,” he said to the media at a Queen’s Park news conference.
This is not the first time the premier has rejected municipalities’ pleas to maintain speed cameras.
Last week, more than 20 mayors across the province signed an open letter to the premier, urging him not to ban cameras, and consider other compromises instead, such as warning tickets, limited operation hours, and larger signs.
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Nevertheless, on Tuesday, Ford responded with his own open letter firmly rejecting the mayors’ pleas, and reinforcing the idea of adopting other traffic-calming measures to slow down drivers, including speed bumps, roundabouts and more signage.
“The answer is no. Our government is banning this municipal cash grab once and for all,” he wrote.
Highlighting the number of tickets issued in certain municipalities, including Toronto, Waterloo and Vaughan, Ford claimed that ticketing drivers has not been effective in reducing accidents, and accused the municipal governments of using the collected money on things other than investing in traffic-calming measures.
“Clearly, if the point of speed cameras is to slow down drivers, they are failing miserably. They’re cash grabs, pure and simple,” he added.
OLIVIA CHOW CALLS OUT FORD’S GOVERNMENT FOR SPEEDING
On Wednesday, Chow also took a jab at the Ford government after a Global News report found that a provincial vehicle was caught speeding multiple times over three years.
“I notice one thing, that provincial ministers’ vehicles have [more than] 20 violations, over $3,000 [in] fines…Twelve times in the past three years, some that were caught 50 km/h over the speed limit, as high as 160 km/h,” Chow said to reporters during a press conference.
“My God, no wonder they don’t like speed cameras, because they catch them while they’re breaking the law,” she added.
According to Global News, although documents didn’t reveal who was caught speeding, Ford’s government suggested that only one person was responsible for the tickets, and that person has received a warning.
