Local mayors pushing Premier Ford for compromise on speed camera ban
Posted Oct 3, 2025 07:41:05 AM.
Last Updated Oct 3, 2025 10:20:49 AM.
A letter penned to Premier Doug Ford from mayors across the province, even a few locally in Waterloo Region, is pushing for some balance when it comes to the future of Ontario’s speed cameras.
It comes as the premier announced that he has his sights set on tabling legislation when he’s first able, looking to ban the use of speed cameras across the province.
Over 20 mayors from all corners of the province sent the letter to Ford, saying that compromise is needed rather than a full elimination of the safety-focused program.
“A total ban would reverse years of progress on safety,” voiced mayors in the letter. “It would place more pressure on police, increase enforcement costs, and most critically, endanger lives.”
Included in the letter to the premier are a few local voices, including Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe, Cambridge Mayor Jan Liggett, and Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie.
The focus revolves around the use of speed cameras in school zones, saying that a full ban province-wide would solely create more dangers and possibly even risk loss of life.
“For most of us, the intention has always been to install cameras in school zones to protect our most vulnerable residents — our children,” read the letter. “We urge you to provide a carve-out to allow municipalities to continue to deploy ASE in school zones, and work with municipalities to improve understanding, effectiveness, and community engagement.”
Notably not tied to the letter is Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic, who showed support for the premier’s push when he attended the announcement last week.
Ford stated that the cameras are “cash grabs” and “speed traps,” adding that their overall elimination would put money back in the pockets of local taxpayers across Ontario.
The letter, however, highlights the benefits for residents across the province, both from a safety standpoint and in terms of their wallets.
“Funding traffic calming from fines lifts these costs from taxpayers, and assigns them to speeders who are causing the issues in the first place,” said mayors.
They point to potential measures that could be taken as a compromise to the premier’s push for a ban on speed cameras.
Those ideas include setting up a threshold of speed before a ticket would be issued, issuing a warning for first-time speeding offenders, installing large signs ahead of the location of those cameras, creating a blackout period where drivers ticketed for the first time wouldn’t be fined further, and even programming cameras to run solely during frequently used times, including school hours.
They say this would reduce the overall burden on drivers, while still allowing for overall behavioural changes when it comes to speeding through those cities and municipalities.
The full list of mayors included in the letter consists of Waterloo’s Dorothy McCabe, Cambridge’s Jan Liggett, Guelph’s Cam Guthrie, Hamilton’s Andrea Horwath, Chatham-Kent’s Darrin Canniff, Mississauga’s Carolyn Parrish, Burlington’s Marianne Meed Ward, Brampton’s Patrick Brown, Whitby’s Elizabeth Roy, Richmond Hill’s David West, St. Catharine’s Mat Siscoe, Brantford’s Kevin Davis, Ajax’s Shaun Collier, Innisfil’s Lynn Dollin, Parry Sound’s Jamie McGarvie, Newmarket’s John Taylor, Peterborough County Warden Bonnie Clark, Casselman’s Geneviève Lajoie, Mississippi Mills’s Christa Lowry, Halton Hills’s Ann Lawlor, Orangeville’s Lisa Post and Grey Highlands’s Deputy Mayor Dane Nielsen.
As of now, the premier has stated that legislation for the potential ban on speed cameras across Ontario will be tabled once the legislature reconvenes, currently slated to happen before October comes to a close.
