TORONTO - A proposal by a Liberal backbencher to bring back photo radar at construction sites and school zones in Ontario was quickly shot down by the government and the Opposition on Monday.
Former health minister David Caplan introduced a private member's bill that would give municipalities the authority to install photo radar cameras near construction sites and schools.
The cameras will slow drivers down and help protect workers at the side of the road and kids near school playgrounds, said Caplan.
"The problem we have now is really one of enforcement," he said.
"These areas need special attention and so far what we've done, increasing fines, hasn't worked."
The photo radar cameras would snap a picture of a speeding car and a ticket would be mailed to the vehicle's registered owner, but there would be no demerit points.
Photo radar became a political football in Ontario in the 1990s after it was introduced by the NDP government under premier Bob Rae. It was killed by premier Mike Harris after the Progressive Conservatives won the 1995 election, in part on a pledge to get rid of the cameras.
Critics of photo radar -- including angry motorists -- called it a cash grab that did nothing to deter dangerous activities like drunk driving.
Opposition Leader Tim Hudak said Monday that the Progressive Conservatives would never bring back photo radar.
The Ontario Safety League, an association the government often relies on for issues such as this, said it supports Caplan's bill.
"Unfortunately over a number of years the issue has taken on quite a political tone, but it's a pure safety and science issue," said OSL spokesman Brian Patterson.
"Vehicles going slower have better control, shorter stopping distances and are less likely to injure or kill a pedestrian that they hit."
Despite the lobbying efforts, there are no plans to bring back the photo radar cameras, even on the limited basis proposed by Caplan, said Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne.
"It did become a very political issue but we wouldn't be making a decision on the politics of it," said Wynne.
"We don't have any current plans to re-institute it."
The New Democrats said they would support Caplan's private member's bill to bring back the photo radar cameras for limited applications, not for general use on highways.
"The idea of adding photo radar to areas where vulnerable people are spending a lot of time -- workers on construction sites, young children around schools and child care centres -- makes some sense to me," said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.
"Nothing that's going to be a cash grab and the purpose of which is to fill the pockets of the government, but something dealing with the safety issue is worth looking at."
Caplan noted a survey that showed two-thirds of people polled supported his bill, as did the Ontario Safety League, the School Bus Association and the Ontario Trucking Association.
"It's important to use the available technology to make our communities safer," he said.
Private member's bills rarely become law in Ontario, and Caplan's seemed doomed to certain defeat with only the handful of the New Democrats in the legislature actually supporting the idea.
