Doug Ford refuses to compromise on speed cameras, promising speed bumps instead

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has denied a request from 20 Ontario mayors to “tweak, instead of scrap” speed cameras. Instead, he claims he will eliminate speeding through other measures.

In a signed letter that was published on Friday, the group of municipal leaders urged Doug Ford to compromise on his plans to scrap the cameras.

Some of the solutions brought forward in the letter include setting cameras at a reasonable speed threshold. Currently there isn’t one.

Also in the letter — a suggestion to issue a warning ticket on a first offence, and a blackout on additional fines for a week after getting the first ticket.

The Premier says out of the 444 municipalities in the province, 407 don’t want speed cameras. The remaining 37, he says, are “greedy communities.”

In a follow-up letter released yesterday, Ford says the number of fines issued by speed cameras in Ontario grew by nearly nine times between 2020-2024, totalling more than $52 million dollars.

So, if not speed cameras, what will be done to calm traffic?

Doug Ford says the province will pay to install infrastructure like speed bumps and roundabouts that will guarantee traffic slows down.

Municipal leaders are asking the Ontario government to fully reimburse them for the costs that went toward the speed camera program.

The province says they’ll cover the cost of cancelling those contracts, but not a penny more.

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