Looks like photo radar just not on NDP’s radar

West Kelowna mayor says city council’s request for speedenforcement tool got cool reception from public safety minister

West Kelowna Mayor Doug Findlater didn’t see much point three months ago in campaigning for the restoration of photo radar.

He was the only council member to vote in June against the idea of bringing forward to the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention a resolution advocating the return of photo radar.

But Findlater on Wednesday was nevertheless pitching the idea to Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth.

“As mayor, you put your own opinion aside and represent the interests of the council, so that’s what I was doing,” Findlater said after the meeting.

Since West Kelowna declared its support for the restoration of photo radar, abolished in B.C. in 2001, Findlater said public reaction has been mixed.

“There’s been a range of responses,” he said. “Everything from, ‘Good for you, that would help to slow traffic down,’ to ‘If you do that, I’ll never vote for you again.’”

West Kelowna councillors say only photo radar may be able to slow down lead-footed motorists, since traffic-calming measures such as roundabouts, narrowed roads, speed-reader boards and speed bumps haven’t succeeded in doing so.

“I used to hate and detest photo radar,” Coun. Duane Ophus said at the June meeting. “But I have come to realize the error of my ways.”

However, West Kelowna council’s support for reinstatement of photo radar seems unlikely to win the endorsement of the NDP government. Attorney General David Eby has said it won’t happen, and Findlater said Farnworth didn’t seem to be a fan of the idea.

“He said, ‘We’re not there yet,’” Findlater recalled of his conversation with Farnworth. “But one thing he did say they’re considering doing is adjusting the red-light cameras so they’re activated 24 hours a day instead of the select times they’re working now.”