‘I don't know why we are debating this': Inside city hall's scrappy argument over speed cameras
city hall
.
At times, it got downright grumpy.
In a majority vote Thursday night spurred by a motion from Mayor Olivia Chow, council directed its transportation staff and lawyers to report back in July on how feasible it would be to limit the number of tickets a car owner can receive from a speed camera before they receive their first infraction notice in the mail.
The vote came after more than an hour of bickering over the use of speed cameras — including some councillors questioning whether the city is failing to give residents enough notice when new ones go up, or whether it's drivers who are just failing to pay attention.
Here's what sparked the debate, and how it played out.
Coun. Anthony Perruzza steered the issue into the spotlight this week,
raising a stink about how some cameras are 'speed traps'
that ticket drivers travelling 'close' to the posted speed limit. He argued the city doesn't do a good job in clearly warning residents when new cameras are about to be installed or when speed limits change on a road.
His office issued a press release Wednesday saying he planned to propose briefly suspending Toronto's 150 speed cameras until the program could be reviewed.
'I believe in Vision Zero, but I don't believe in just willy-nilly speed traps,' Perruzza told reporters earlier on Thursday. 'They're painted in an obscure colour. They're usually hidden ... I am asking for a pause while we do this review.'
Perruzza referred to the camera on Islington Avenue south of Albion Road as an example. If a driver is travelling on the wide arterial at 2 a.m., there's no one on the road and the driver is coming down off the decline, 'it's very easy' to go five or 10 km/h over the posted limit, he said.
Since 2020, when Toronto first rolled out its speed cameras, the city has put up warning signs at least 90 days in advance — and signs when the cameras are installed — at new locations, as prescribed by provincial laws.
But Perruzza, along with councillors Stephen Holyday and Vincent Crisanti, argued the signs may not be big enough, visible or clear.
Holyday's motion to consider painting or vinyl wrapping the cameras in 'brighter contrasting colours' failed in a close vote of 11 to 9, with Chow voting in favour.
'Sometimes it's not fair, because sometimes you don't know a camera is there,' Chow said. 'We have these really little signs … (Drivers) will slow down if they see it. If they do, if they're speeding, they deserve a ticket.'
Chow's motion also asked city staff to install 'larger, more visible, and clearer signage.'
Despite the mayor's motion, the
province sets the rules
around the speed camera system, including fine amounts and signage, since it falls under the Highway Traffic Act.
Under the legislation, cameras have to be installed in
community safety zones
, but the city establishes where to designate those zones.
'We don't have a lot of ability to enlarge those signs ... I'm not sure a larger sign would yield significant results,' Barbara Gray, the city's general manager of transportation services, said at council, in response to Coun. Jon Burnside's questions.
Despite Vaughan recently taking this on with months of notices along roadways, public education efforts and large signs, residents were still 'caught off guard' and
inundated Mayor Steven Del Duca's office with complaints
about 'fairness.'
A
2022 study
, backed by a recent study soon to be published, analyzing speed and collision data found that
automated enforcement significantly reduces the number of people speeding
and improves driver behaviour.
The debate Thursday took place during a discussion about the city's Vision Zero program, aimed at reducing traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries — and emerged against the backdrop of a
rash of speed cameras being vandalized or cut down across the city
.
Perruzza, sympathetic to 'conscientious' drivers unaware they may be speeding on roads with newly lowered speed limits, who then get slapped with multiple tickets, said later to Burnside: 'As a former officer, I would think you would have heard this complaint all the time, about 'I didn't see that sign.''
'And I said, 'too bad' ... If they're driving a car, should they not be paying attention?' retorted Burnside, who later suggested it might be a better idea to look at changing speed limits where they are 'unrealistic.'
Coun. Josh Matlow pointed to a principle deeply rooted in legal systems worldwide: 'Even the ignorance of a law is not an excuse, in court or otherwise, for not obeying it.'
Coun. Paul Ainslie, one of Chow's ceremonial deputy mayors, wanted to be rid of any warning signs altogether.
'I'm not prepared to go to some child's parents in my ward, and say, 'I'm really sorry your child was hit, we decided to make the cameras more visible — we made it easier for people to speed.''
It was clear that not everyone felt it was a useful conversation.
Speaker Frances Nunziata's exasperated 'I don't know why we are debating this really' summed up the apparent mood of many inside council chambers.
'Barbara, how many times do I argue with you that I want speed cameras? I'm getting requests from all my constituents … Maybe in some wards it's not needed, I don't know,' Nunziata said, from her councillor's desk. But, 'do I care about somebody driving in Coun. Perruzza's ward at two in the morning? Well, I don't care. They're obviously speeding. The argument is so silly.'
Speed cameras have long been a flashpoint topic, often described by critics as cash grabs when placed in certain locations that ticket drivers travelling a few kilometres over the limit.
Premier Doug Ford has been pushing for better signage around the cameras. Meanwhile, ongoing vandalism — including the
repeated decapitation of the Parkside Drive speed camera
— has kept the cameras in the headlines.
Last year, Toronto generated $40 million from its speed cameras.
Gray disputed that they are a cash grab. She noted Toronto's program was created in conjunction with various law enforcement agencies so the cameras have a 'reasonable' threshold before they ticket drivers.
'The goal of the program is in no way revenue generation,' Gray said, noting speed is a major factor in road fatalities. 'If you don't speed, you don't get a ticket.'
The city, meanwhile, does not divulge what speed over the posted limit will trigger cameras to issue tickets to drivers.
The lion's share of the speed camera fines that go to the municipality (with a small chunk remitted to the province) is injected into the city's general accounts. Chow's motion also directed the city's chief financial officer to instead prioritize funding 'projects that improve safety, particularly in school zones and community safety zones,' such as installing cross walks or traffic lights and signs.
Just before the vote Thursday night, Perruzza reversed course on asking for a brief suspension of the city's speed cameras without an explanation.
Instead, he
introduced a motion
that included, among other things, a review of the hours the cameras operate.
Pushing 8:30 p.m. with nearly a dozen agenda items left to still debate, Matlow quickly swivelled his chair around to face Burnside sitting behind him, hands in the air and visibly irritated by how long the debate dragged, to ask: 'So he's not suggesting to suspend them?!'
Perruzza's new motion failed in a vote of 16 to 4.
'That was a really good use of our time,' Coun. Gord Perks said sarcastically inside the chambers.
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