By Sean Shapiro
When Ontario Premier Doug Ford called automated speed enforcement cameras a “tax grab” and said municipalities should get rid of them, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
I want to be clear. I’ve met Premier Ford. I’ve shaken his hand. When my friend was killed, he showed compassion, and I respect him for that. I also appreciate his support for policing, from helping recruitment to removing barriers by having the province cover police college costs. I don’t have a personal problem with him. But I do have a serious problem with his position on speed cameras.
Automated speed enforcement cameras aren’t political gimmicks. They’re proven tools that save lives. Calling them a tax grab isn’t just wrong, it’s dangerous.
Many drivers I hear from echo the Premier’s line, calling them a cash grab or an unfair tax. But cameras aren’t a grab at all. They’re a deterrent and, when that fails, they’re a way of holding drivers, or in this case vehicle owners, accountable for breaking the law.
We’ve been here before. In the 1990s, Ontario tested photo radar on highways. Police used it, drivers slowed down, collisions dropped, and lives were saved. But once enough people complained, the program was scrapped, and speeding came right back.
Today’s cameras are more targeted. They’re confined to Community Safety Zones near schools, parks, hospitals, retirement homes, and high collision corridors. These aren’t random placements.
The evidence is overwhelming. The Region of Waterloo cites global studies showing speed cameras reduce crashes by up to 50 percent and serious or fatal injuries by up to 44 percent. A 2025 CAA South Central Ontario survey found that 73 percent of drivers slowed down when approaching a camera, and 55 percent said they kept to slower speeds even after passing. It also found that 23 percent of Ontario drivers received a ticket, up from 17 percent the year before.
A study by SickKids and Toronto Metropolitan University, published in Injury Prevention in July 2025, covered 250 Toronto school zones between 2020 and 2022. It found a 45 percent drop in speeding, an 88 percent reduction in vehicles exceeding the limit by 20 kilometres per hour or more, and a 10.7 kilometre per hour drop in the 85th percentile speed when cameras were active.
And here’s the most important point. Speed kills. It’s not just a slogan. The faster a vehicle is going, the greater the force of impact and the lower the chance of survival. Collisions at 50 km/h are far more likely to result in serious injury or death than collisions at 30 km/h.
In Toronto, when local road speed limits dropped from 40 km/h to 30 km/h, pedestrian deaths and serious injuries dropped by nearly 67% (BMC Public Health).
And nationally, Transport Canada data reported by TIRF shows that almost one in four fatal crashes in 2021 involved speeding or driving too fast for conditions (TIRF).
So, if the data’s clear, why the pushback?
Premier Ford said, “If you want to slow traffic at school, you put the big, huge signs, big flashing lights, crossing area, people will slow down. This is nothing but a tax grab.” But that’s just not true. We already have speed limit signs everywhere, and as required by law there are signs warning drivers that speed cameras are ahead. Yet people still choose to speed. If signs worked on their own, there wouldn’t be cameras and there wouldn’t be tickets.
Some say speed bumps are the solution. Speed bumps do slow traffic, but they bring serious problems. They delay emergency vehicles, interfere with snow clearing in Ontario, cause unnecessary wear on vehicles, and punish law-abiding drivers along with violators. That’s not enforcement. That’s punishing everyone when the real goal should be holding only the violators accountable.
Another criticism is that it feels unfair to get a ticket from a camera instead of an officer. The truth is the only difference is that an officer may not catch you. They may not be there at the moment you fly by. Maybe that gamble is appealing to some drivers who like to play the odds and enjoy the thrill of thinking they might get away with it. But the law is the law, and cameras apply it evenly. They don’t get tired, they don’t take breaks, and if you speed in a community safety zone, you’re absolutely getting caught.
I’ve also heard people complain about the delay in getting tickets. They say weeks can pass before they even know they were caught, since charges are manually reviewed before the ticket is processed and mailed. I agree it would be better if people knew right away, but the delay doesn’t change the fact they were speeding. Responsibility isn’t erased just because notification isn’t instant. If anything, the surprise in the mailbox might sting more, especially if you’ve managed to rack up multiple envelopes.
Sure, having a police officer issue every ticket would be better. Drivers would get the added consequence of demerit points since the charge would go directly to them and impact their insurance. But the truth is that no matter how many officers we recruit, we can’t put one on every corner. Police must prioritize emergencies, crimes in progress, and calls where lives are at risk.
Automated enforcement fills that gap and works around the clock. It makes sure drivers know there’s never a safe time to break the rules, because accountability is always there. If I could put an officer at every intersection, I would. But it’s not realistic, and there would be a public outcry if I did. Cameras bridge the gap and prevent small problems from becoming big ones.
So why the allergic reaction to accountability?
The truth is the complaints are excuses. People don’t like getting caught breaking rules they want to break. And the Premier’s comments aren’t about safety at all. They’re about politics, pandering to drivers who don’t like being held accountable. That’s playing to a base, not leading for the whole province.
And the irony is that Canadians want more driver accountability. TIRF’s Road Safety Monitor surveys consistently show that Canadians rank speeding and aggressive driving among their top concerns, and they recognize that excessive speed makes crashes more severe (TIRF Road Safety Monitor).
Camera enforcement is actually mild. It costs drivers money, but it doesn’t put points on a license or raise insurance rates. For many, that’s a benefit. Yet somehow it gets twisted into the “tax grab” narrative.
My solution is simple. Change the game. Tickets from cameras should carry demerit points. We could even go a step further and remove the fine completely. That way nobody could say it’s about money. It would be purely about accountability and safer driving. The only penalty would be losing your privileges and, if your insurance company takes note, a possible rate hike. I’m sure we’d see a change in behaviour. At the very least, critics would have to find a new buzzword.
Here’s the simple truth. If cameras didn’t work, nobody would complain. The people complaining are the ones getting caught. Even if we estimate 1,500 tickets per day in Toronto, that’s a tiny fraction of the total vehicles on the road. But it’s still a huge number of serious violations. And drivers caught in one place are almost certainly speeding elsewhere.
Sixteen cameras across Toronto have been vandalized, which is criminal damage to public safety equipment and no different than cutting down a stop sign. While Premier Ford’s tax grab line came after those incidents, rhetoric like that can embolden people who might already be on the edge.
Mayor Olivia Chow has said she wants the cameras repaired and those responsible brought to justice. I’m not always a fan of the mayor, but in this case I agree with her completely. Vandalism isn’t protest. It’s lawlessness. A politician who suggests scrapping cameras is pandering to drivers in search of votes, but it gives strength to vandals instead of standing with the families who need safer streets.
Here’s the bottom line. Nobody’s forced to get a ticket. Every driver has the option to opt out completely by simply following the law and driving safely, and they’ll never get a ticket. That’s how I roll, and you can too.
Premier Ford, respectfully, I like you, but I don’t agree with you on this. Cameras aren’t a tax grab. They’re a consequence designed to motivate drivers to make better, safer decisions. They protect children walking to school, seniors crossing the street, and every driver who just wants to get home alive.
If you want safer communities, the right choice is to strengthen enforcement, not tear it down. Cameras aren’t a tax on drivers. They’re accountability for violators. Removing them won’t save money. It will cost lives.
