Speed cameras not cash grab: minister

SASKATOON The provincial government says its decision to make a speed camera pilot project permanent is not a “money grab” even as it sets the stage for new cameras and prepares to direct a quarter of all ticket revenue into its general revenue fund.

The mayors of Saskatchewan’s two largest cities have been advocating against the proposed changes since the beginning of May, and aren’t happy with the decision, which will strip hundreds of thousands of dollars from their own traffic safety programs each year.

Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark said the province’s decision “makes no sense” and represents a “completely arbitrary approach to intergovernmental relations.” Regina Mayor Michael Fougere said it was disappointing and “a bit concerning.”

“We don’t need the province to help dictate the terms or to figure this out; it’s only because we’re at the mercy of the province on this that this is even an issue,” Clark said.

He added that while traffic safety is important everywhere, “this is just not the way to address it.”

Fougere acknowledged the provincial government’s constitutional right to make the decision, but said speed camera fines should go to the municipality in which the violations occurred and any expansion of the program should be funded by the province.

“We just think the province should perhaps rethink this,” he said.

Joe Hargrave, the minister Responsible for Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI), insisted the decision to make the three-year-old pilot project permanent and redirect the revenues was based on the program’s effectiveness and a desire to make more roads safer.

“I don’t want to make it into a cash grab. I want it to be about safety — safety on the streets and safety on the highways — and that’s what this is about, to me, and that … should be what it’s about to everybody, every municipality and city,” Hargrave said.

Launched just over three years ago, the project involves speed cameras, also called photo radar, on some highways, Circle Drive in Saskatoon, Ring Road in Regina, and Highway 1 and Ninth Avenue in Moose Jaw, as well as in certain school zones across the three cities.

According to SGI’S 60-page evaluation of the pilot project, speed cameras not only reduced average speeds and led to a speeding rate of less than one per cent in “almost all” locations, but also had a “positive impact on the frequency and severity of collisions.”

Under the changes announced Monday, ticket revenue — $5 million between March 2015, when the program debuted, and February 2017 — will no longer flow directly to each municipality’s own traffic safety initiatives and programs.

Beginning Jan. 1, revenue from highway speed cameras — about $119,143 during the program’s first two years — will be split, with a quarter going into the general revenue fund and the remainder, minus costs, into a new provincial traffic safety fund.

A quarter of ticket revenue generated by municipal speed cameras will likewise go into the general revenue fund, with the remaining 75 per cent divided equally between local traffic safety initiatives and the province’s new traffic safety fund.

Noting that the program doesn’t cost Saskatoon or Regina anything, Hargrave said while he understands the cities’ concerns, the shift is intended to fund traffic safety programs in communities where it’s unrealistic to expect a speed camera to be installed.

That explanation doesn’t sit well with Canadian Taxpayers Federation Prairie director Todd Mackay, who said linking safety and revenue

I want it to be about safety — safety on the streets and safety on the highways — and that … should be what it’s about to everybody.

can raise questions about motivation. He said the province’s decision to direct the money into its general revenue fund is “a bad sign.”

“The easier way to do this is to stick with the tried and true methods of having police officers making the judgment calls … rather than relying on a camera that creates an awful lot of temptations for politicians to try and max out revenue rather than focusing on safety,” Mackay said.

In its first-quarter financial update delivered late last month, the provincial government said its 2018-19 deficit forecast is now $306 million.