The Ford government will table legislation to abolish Ontario’s speed cameras, the premier announced, as he continues his push to get rid of a system he has repeatedly called a “tax grab.”
On Thursday morning, Premier Doug Ford finally unveiled a policy he has been telegraphing for weeks, announcing he will force cities to remove their speed cameras and give them an unspecified amount of money to add speed bumps and signs instead.
The premier lamented examples of automated speed enforcement cameras being poorly signposted or issuing tickets for people going a few kilometres over the limit. He said those examples showed they were about making money, not slowing people down.
“You’re coming off the QEW and 427, at Martingrove and Eglinton, that one’s been taken down three or four times,” he said. “You’re going a fair click if you hit the green light. And all of a sudden — bang. There’s no warnings, there’s no nothing. It’s not even close to a school.”
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Ford’s claim the cameras do nothing to stop speeding stands in contrast to a recent academic study, along with the positions of municipal and police leaders.
A study from SickKids and Toronto Metropolitan University over the summer found speed cameras reduced speeding by 45 per cent in Toronto.
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police both released statements in which they argued that the cameras are an effective tool to slow down drivers, freeing up police officers to concentrate on serious crime.
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The premier’s office, however, highlighted the money raised by some cities to show that the cameras make more money than they slow down.
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The government said 40 municipalities in Ontario had signed up for automated speed enforcement, installing more than 700 cameras between them. The cities on that list include some of Ontario’s most populous, like Toronto, Ottawa, Brampton and Mississauga.
“Municipal speed cameras have become nothing more than a tool for raising revenue,” Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said in a statement.
The government said its speed camera legislation will prevent cities from using their speed cameras as soon as it receives Royal Assent. It will include requirements for cities to add “slow down” signs near schools by mid-November and large permanent signs with flashing lights by this time next year.
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Ford said he wouldn’t help cities with the cost of removing the cameras, breaking contracts or potentially offering drivers refunds for tickets they received.
Instead, he said, the government will set up a fund for cities to install other traffic calming measures.
“It also includes speed bumps, roundabouts, raised crosswalks, curb extensions and other types of enforcement that will keep communities safe without squeezing more money out of the taxpayers,” Ford said.
The government has not decided how much money will go into the fund. Ford said he would “evaluate” the need before deciding.
A spokesperson for the premier’s office did say the government was looking at indemnifying cities for breaking existing speed camera contracts.
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Thursday’s announcement marked the crescendo in weeks of complaining about municipal speed cameras.
Since early September, Ford has railed against automated speed enforcement, repeating his message that it is a municipal revenue tool that doesn’t slow drivers down.
At successive news conferences, he has outlined a move to get rid of or massively cut back on the cameras.
The new legislation announced on Thursday morning won’t be tabled immediately, however, because the legislature hasn’t been in session since June.
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Cabinet ministers and MPPs won’t return to Queen’s Park until Oct. 20, after the government triggered an extended break. Without the extension, politicians would have begun debating legislation after Labour Day.
The Ford government’s planned legislation would effectively reverse a law introduced in 2017 by now-Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca when he was Ontario Liberal transportation minister.
The law was activated by Ford’s government in December 2019. At that time, it introduced the regulations required to let cities start issuing fines.
Asked what had changed since he greenlit the program, Ford railed against the money municipalities collect by fining drivers.
“Let’s look at what’s happened now,” he said. “It’s out of control, this is nothing more than a tax grab, taking tens of millions, hundreds of millions of dollars out of the taxpayers’ pockets. It’s out of control right now; things have changed.”
The Liberals said Ford was undoing his own policy.
“This Ford only goes in reverse. Doug Ford put in speed cameras to make our streets safer, and now he’s ripping them out,” Ontario Liberal MPP John Fraser said in a statement.
“Speed cameras are first and foremost about safe schools. They’re about protecting children and making sure the streets they walk on are safe. Leadership means doing the right thing, not the popular thing. Doug Ford is failing that test.”
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