Municipal government workers in Ottawa are not required to pay for tickets issued by the city’s new photo radar system. .“If the city isn’t going to make its employees pay the tickets, it should just scrap photo radar,” said Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) Ontario Director Jay Goldberg in a Tuesday blog post..“This makes it look like photo radar is more about money than safety for the city, and taxpayers are already paying enough.”.Records obtained by the CTF through access to information and privacy requests reveal 989 photo radar and red-light camera tickets were given out to City of Ottawa vehicles from January 2019 to August 2021. .The blog post said that at least 159 of these tickets were for vehicles in the city fleet, aside from those used by police, transit services, and paramedics. The combined cost, said the post, was a little more than $37,000. .“Charges laid under the red-light camera and/or photo radar provisions of the Highway Traffic Act are owner liability offences, with the result being the City of Ottawa, as owner of the vehicle, is legally responsible for payment of the fine,” City of Ottawa solicitor David White told the CTF..“As a result, the city does not require drivers to pay those fines.”.White said tickets are handled as disciplinary matters and that none of them involve employees paying their fines. .Toronto pays for its city employees’ tickets and tries to recuperate the costs after. Records obtained by the CTF show that Edmonton makes its government workers pay. .Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said in March that the city lost $1.1 million in revenue throughout 2021 because of photo radar tickets being mailed late. .“Not only do current photo radar policies create a two-tier system, but the photo radars in general are just government cash cows,” said Goldberg. “If Ottawa was actually using photo radar to promote public safety, every government employee who gets a ticket would be forced to pay it out of pocket.”.Ottawa launched a photo radar pilot project in 2020. .Four automated photo radar cameras were set up near school zones in Ottawa. .Two of these cameras were fixed in place, and the other two moved across six different sites about every 45 days. .Jonathan Bradley is a contributor at the Western Standard based out of Toronto. .This is what the Western Standard is up againstThe Trudeau government is funding lies and propaganda by directly subsidizing the mainstream media. They do this to entrench the powerful Eastern, woke and corrupt interests that dominate the political, social and economic institutions in Canada. Federal authorities are constantly trying to censor us and stop us from publishing the stories that they don’t want you to read. Ottawa may weaponize our taxes and police against us, but we’ve got a powerful ally on our side.You. Free men, and free women. We need you to stand with us and become a member of the Western Standard. Here’s what you will get for your membership:Unlimited access to all articles from the Western Standard, Alberta Report, West Coast Standard, and Saskatchewan Standard, with no paywall. Our daily newsletter delivered to your inbox. .Access to exclusive Member-only WS events.Keep the West’s leading independent media voice strong and free.If you can, please support us with a monthly or annual membership. It takes just a moment to set up, and you will be making a big impact on keeping one the last independent media outlets in Canada free from Ottawa’s corrupting influence.
Municipal government workers in Ottawa are not required to pay for tickets issued by the city’s new photo radar system. .“If the city isn’t going to make its employees pay the tickets, it should just scrap photo radar,” said Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) Ontario Director Jay Goldberg in a Tuesday blog post..“This makes it look like photo radar is more about money than safety for the city, and taxpayers are already paying enough.”.Records obtained by the CTF through access to information and privacy requests reveal 989 photo radar and red-light camera tickets were given out to City of Ottawa vehicles from January 2019 to August 2021. .The blog post said that at least 159 of these tickets were for vehicles in the city fleet, aside from those used by police, transit services, and paramedics. The combined cost, said the post, was a little more than $37,000. .“Charges laid under the red-light camera and/or photo radar provisions of the Highway Traffic Act are owner liability offences, with the result being the City of Ottawa, as owner of the vehicle, is legally responsible for payment of the fine,” City of Ottawa solicitor David White told the CTF..“As a result, the city does not require drivers to pay those fines.”.White said tickets are handled as disciplinary matters and that none of them involve employees paying their fines. .Toronto pays for its city employees’ tickets and tries to recuperate the costs after. Records obtained by the CTF show that Edmonton makes its government workers pay. .Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said in March that the city lost $1.1 million in revenue throughout 2021 because of photo radar tickets being mailed late. .“Not only do current photo radar policies create a two-tier system, but the photo radars in general are just government cash cows,” said Goldberg. “If Ottawa was actually using photo radar to promote public safety, every government employee who gets a ticket would be forced to pay it out of pocket.”.Ottawa launched a photo radar pilot project in 2020. .Four automated photo radar cameras were set up near school zones in Ottawa. .Two of these cameras were fixed in place, and the other two moved across six different sites about every 45 days. .Jonathan Bradley is a contributor at the Western Standard based out of Toronto. .This is what the Western Standard is up againstThe Trudeau government is funding lies and propaganda by directly subsidizing the mainstream media. They do this to entrench the powerful Eastern, woke and corrupt interests that dominate the political, social and economic institutions in Canada. Federal authorities are constantly trying to censor us and stop us from publishing the stories that they don’t want you to read. Ottawa may weaponize our taxes and police against us, but we’ve got a powerful ally on our side.You. Free men, and free women. We need you to stand with us and become a member of the Western Standard. Here’s what you will get for your membership:Unlimited access to all articles from the Western Standard, Alberta Report, West Coast Standard, and Saskatchewan Standard, with no paywall. Our daily newsletter delivered to your inbox. .Access to exclusive Member-only WS events.Keep the West’s leading independent media voice strong and free.If you can, please support us with a monthly or annual membership. It takes just a moment to set up, and you will be making a big impact on keeping one the last independent media outlets in Canada free from Ottawa’s corrupting influence.