The Ontario government plans to ban speed cameras, despite data from various regions showing the cameras reduce speeding.Fred Lum/the Globe and Mail
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is musing about repurposing the speed cameras he intends to soon ban and using them to track down stolen cars.
Ford has announced his government will introduce legislation next month to prohibit the use of speed cameras across the province.
Various regions that use the cameras, as well as a study by the Hospital for Sick Children and Toronto Metropolitan University, have data showing they reduce speeding but Ford disagrees, calling the cameras a “cash grab” for municipalities.
Ontario’s decision to kill speed cameras puts Ford at odds with some municipalities, police
He says he has no problem with red light cameras because “racing through a red light” causes serious accidents.
Speaking Monday at an unrelated press conference in Hamilton – alongside Mayor Andrea Horwath, who supports the use of speed cameras – Ford used a question about those cameras to pivot to talking about crime.
“I was asking the mayor about crime as well, because I want to start introducing cameras on crime, if approved by residents,” Ford said.
“Certain areas around Ontario are just getting hammered, York Region, certain parts of Etobicoke, Peel Region, and up in Halton as well, Durham, so we’re going to be working on that. And I’m wondering if we can use those cameras to identify stolen cars as well.”
Premier Doug Ford, accompanied by some of his cabinet ministers, speaks at a news conference about speed cameras on Sept. 25.Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press
Ford said the cameras he has in mind “pick up a licence plate, and if it’s a stolen car it gets immediately reported to the police, the local police.”
“There’s an opportunity only if the community wants it, right?” Ford said.
“If you don’t want cameras for security reasons - I know a lot of people have home cameras as well - then we won’t put it in. We’ll only put those cameras in if the city or the town wants it in, and then the community has to give a green light as well. But I think they’re superb.”
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario is calling on Ford to leave decisions on speed cameras up to individual cities and towns, saying they are concerned about “continued provincial overreach.”
“This should be a local decision,” the association wrote on its website. “Our goal is to advocate for working with the province to improve – not ban – the [speed camera] program.”