Proposed speed camera ban ‘an overreach,’ Windsor city councillor says

A Windsor city councillor wants Premier Doug Ford to slow down on the speed camera ban.

A Windsor city councillor believes Ontario Premier Doug Ford is “on the wrong side” of the speed camera debate.

Mark McKenzie, the representative for Windsor’s Ward 4, feels the Ford Government is showing signs of “overreach” with its latest position towards the traffic calming measure.

On Thursday, Ford announced new legislation will be introduced next month to ban the use of municipal speed cameras.

“At a time when governments at all levels should be doing everything they can to lower costs and make life more affordable, too many municipalities are using speed cameras as a cash grab,” Ford said at a news conference in Vaughan.

Windsor is in the process of installing five new speed cameras to address what McKenzie described as the most common complaint he receives from constituents.

“I think the message that it says is that Doug Ford doesn’t actually care about speeding in our residential areas, and that he’s just out of the loop here,” McKenzie told CTV News on Thursday evening.

Automated speed enforcement (ASE) cameras will be rolled out in December across five school areas located within designated school zones or community safety zones:

• Cabana Road East (Howard to Holburn)
• Clover Avenue (McHugh to Tecumseh Road East)
• Huron Church Road (Millen to 180m north of Tecumseh Road West)
• Forest Glade Drive (Lauzon to Wildwood)
• Conservation Drive (EC Row Avenue to Calvert)

Earlier this year, Windsor city council heard that the cost to lease and operate the cameras is approximately $1.3 million, but this should be offset by the revenue generated through tickets.

McKenzie disputed the premier’s comments that framed the speed cameras as a “cash grab,” stating Windsor planned to use additional revenue to help further prevent speeding.

He noted the city would only ticket drivers moving at an unreasonable rate over the posted limit.

“We’re not going to do one or two or three or even four over. We’re going to be reasonable here, and all of the money that we actually raise with the red light cameras and with the speed cameras, we did direct administration to put that money back into traffic calming measures,” McKenzie said.

As of Thursday night, McKenzie said he was unsure what next steps the city can take, given the provincial direction.

At the city’s next meeting, McKenzie plans to bring forward a motion to ask the province to walk back the proposed ban.

“If you’re not speeding, you have nothing to worry about,” McKenzie said.

The city councillor is inviting Ford to visit Windsor and spend time on residential streets to observe the rate of speeding.