Speed Cameras: Devine Condemns Ford Move

On the issue of Premier Doug Ford’s reckless, irresponsible, and fact-deficient announcement last week to cancel the use of Automated Speed Enforcement Cameras across Ontario, I’m not going to repeat the concerns and arguments of the many critics of Ford’s dangerous and potentially deadly decision.

Across Ontario, thoughtful, responsible citizens and stakeholders are shocked and dismayed at Ford’s complete disregard for public safety. And make no mistake about it: the people who disagree with Ford on this issue are in the majority. By a long shot. This is going to hurt Ford politically.

—

This newsletter excerpt from Knoxdale-Merivale Councillor Sean Devine is courtesy of the city-wide community group Your Applewood Acres (And Beyond) Neighbours.

—

And it should hurt him. His actions could get a lot of people seriously hurt, if not killed.

I have already spoken with several of my City Council colleagues, and on Monday I had a meeting with Ottawa’s Director of Traffic Services, who had just come out of a meeting with her own counterparts from across Ontario. They are all frustrated and left without any certainty on how to proceed with project plans and budgets. Later this week, Ottawa’s Director of Traffic Services will be releasing a memo to City Council outlining the many consequences and ramifications of the elimination of Automated Speed Enforcement.

Not only will this most certainly result in higher speeds in areas where these cameras have produced significant speed reductions, but the loss in revenue will lead to several consequences. Here are just some examples:

• I had planned to bring a Motion seeking to increase the amount of funding generated by Automated Speed Enforcement dedicated to safety improvements around schools.
• Ottawa Police will lose some of the funding they received from Automated Speed Enforcement cameras which funded some of their own traffic safety work.
• The annual budget that each councillor gets to spend on Temporary Traffic Calming measures (like the flashing signs, or the speed bumps that Premier Ford seems to like so much) will now be cut by 50%.

If you share my concerns and frustration, then I urge you to write to your Member of Provincial Parliament. Here in Ward 9, those would be MPP Tyler Watt (tylerwatt.mpp.co@ola.org) and MPP Chandra Pasma (cpasma_qp@ndp.on.ca). But, of course, I know that they’re in agreement with me. A better approach would be to send your complaint to George Darouze, the MPP for Carleton and a member of the government caucus. His email address is george.darouze@pc.ola.org. From what I can see, he’s fully on board with removing these cameras. For MPP Darouze, it’s an affordability issue, after all.

I’ll leave you with three things:

This will impact residents in Ward 9. The Automated Speed Enforcement camera that we had installed last year on Merivale Road between MacFarlane Road and Brookdale Avenue issued the 3rd highest number of tickets across all of Ottawa so far this year. This is easily one of the most dangerous locations in Ward 9 when it comes to speeding and vulnerable road users, affecting local residents and families attending St. Monica’s School. And since analysis of speeding tickets from 2024 and 2025 shows a consistent decrease in tickets issued in 2025, which proves these cameras work, we will now lose that safety measure at an area where we need it most.

—

City To Appoint Doctor Recruiter: Sutcliffe

—

The first graphic below is a data analysis by a resident of Ottawa showing an apparent, consistent decrease in measured speed at all of Ottawa’s 60 Automated Speed Enforcement Camera locations since the program first started in 2020.

The second graphic below is a simple, but effective way of demonstrating just how much increased speed results in more serious injuries and death when it comes to collisions.

Speed kills, Premier. That’s just basic physics. Here’s another physics lesson, courtesy of Sir Isaac Newton, which applies equally to politics: for every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction.

For You:

Are Our Taxes Too Low? BLUESKY

Stephanson Doesn’t Get Work-At-Home: MULVIHILL

Promises, Promises, Your Worship

Best Traffic Calming Mode Not Speed Cams: LO

Bookmark The Bulldog, click here