Recent comments by Ontario Premier Doug Ford against Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) cameras are causing doubt that the cameras could be installed in the Town of Hawkesbury.
At the September 8 Hawkesbury town council meeting, a draft recommendation and report was presented by staff and discussed during the Committee of the Whole session of the meeting. That recommendation calls for the installation of two cameras as a means of reducing excessive speed by drivers. The ASE cameras would be adopted as a two-year pilot project. During the past year, council has prepared for the possible installation of the cameras by designating all town streets as a Community Safety Zone where traffic fines are doubled.
However, on September 9, Ford responded to a series of reports that 17 ASE cameras in Toronto had been vandalized or removed by saying he opposes their use. The Premier said municipalities should remove the cameras and suggested the provincial government may prohibit their further use.
Hawkesbury Mayor Robert Lefebvre said it could be pointless now for Hawkesbury to have the ASE cameras installed if the province decides to disallow municipalities from using the devices.
“Mr. Ford is going to change the rules basically,” Lefebvre said.
He said the decision could be deferred, pending further directions from the Ontario government.
If Hawkesbury council does decide to go ahead with the ASE camera pilot project, the town would enter into an agreement with Local Authority Services (LAS), a not-for-profit company established by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), for the processing and administration of infractions issued by the cameras. Lefebvre said potential directions from the province prohibiting ASE cameras may make it not worthwhile to establish that agreement.
“There’s no point in entering an agreement where there’s total instability right now,” he said.
At the September 8 council meeting, Councillor Jeanne Charlebois said many drivers passing through town have no respect for residents’ safety.
Councillor Julie Séguin supports the installation of cameras to fine drivers who do not stop at red lights but believes the ASE cameras are mostly a way for municipalities to collect additional revenue. She has urged other safety measures be considered to reduce speed on Hawkesbury streets.
“There’s no relation between the fines and the reductions of accidents resulting in death,” she remarked
“We haven’t explored other options,” added Séguin.
Councillor Tony Tsourounakis described ASE cameras as a “tax on the ignorant,” because they are catching drivers who are not paying attention.
“I can’t support someone’s desire to speed whenever they want,” he said.
Tsourounakis noted that unlike fines for excessive speed issued by police officers, drivers fined by ASE cameras do not receive demerit points on their driving record.
The ASE camera recommendation will return to Hawkesbury town council for a decision when it meets on October 14.
