by arthur Weinreb,
august 17, 2004
"I’ve long been a supporter of photo radar. It’s a revenue generator, absolutely.
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, January 2004
I’m not ruling it (photo radar) out. It’s about safety."
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, august 2004
after Dalton McGuinty’s acknowledgement a couple of weeks ago that he breaks promises( lies), for our own good of course, he’s at it again. So which is it, Dalton — should photo radar be brought in to generate revenue or is it a safety measure? For those of us that are the cynics that Dalton has no respect for, even though he’s generated more cynicism than taxes which is saying a lot, we think that it’s all about money.
Former Premier Ernie Eves, in his move to the centre after he took over from Mike Harris didn’t accomplish a lot in this province but he got one thing right. Dalton McGuinty does say whatever comes in to his pointy little head. The way McGuinty is going he must long for the good old days back in 1999 when the worst thing that he was called was Norman Bates. That was a reference to the Liberal leader’s strong resemblance to the late actor, Tony Perkins. Dalton is of course no Norman Bates. Had he been running the Bates Motel, it would have gone bankrupt long before Janet Leigh ever showed up to take the most famous shower in history.
and speaking of Ernie Eves, whatever happened to him? Guess we’ll have to wait until someone writes a "Where are they now?" column. Ernie’s probably with federal Conservative leader Stephen Harper, wherever Conservatives go to fade away. at least Ernie waited until he left office. Okay, let’s get back to photo radar.
Last week the province of Ontario agreed to allow municipalities to install red light cameras on a permanent basis. Then Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion issued a statement saying that municipalities should be allowed to have photo radar as well as red light cameras. That was all the tax grabbing premier needed to hear. Now, suddenly, it’s a matter of safety. and he’s obviously for it.
There is no doubt that making left hand turns on red lights is a matter of safety, much more so than simply speeding on a four lane highway. and certain intersections lend themselves to a higher than average amount of collisions, caused by red light runners. There was no great uproar when the city of Toronto instituted its pilot project of installing cameras at certain major and dangerous intersections. The downside was that the pilot project cost the taxpayers money. For those who happen to think that the red light cameras were installed solely to make money, it’s probably no consolation to realize that only in the city of Toronto could a cash grab end up costing money.
Of course McCallion is talking about using photo radar not on the highways but on municipal streets. It probably makes more sense to install photo radar cameras, if they are going to be installed at all, in residential areas such as school zones where speed per se can dangerous. But that’s not what Dalton is talking about. The McPremier is absolutely salivating at the chance to bring them back to the 400 series of highways.
The pros and cons of photo radar on highways have been argued before — when Bob Rae brought it in and when Mike Harris got rid of it. There is no doubt that when the road conditions are good, exceeding the speed limit by 10 or 20 kilometres an hour doesn’t create a dangerous situation. and when people decide to go faster than that, or the conditions are such that excessive speed constitutes a danger, well, that’s what we have cops for.
Dalton will never change. He used McCallion’s statement as one more example of taking the easy way out — battling the deficit by increasing taxes rather than cutting back spending.
Thanks a lot, Hazel! If you have any more suggestions, please keep them to yourself.