The mayor of Ottawa says employees who receive tickets for driving at a red light or speeding while using city-owned vehicles should be required to pay the price of the tickets – for which they are currently not responsible.
“If we can identify that they were in that vehicle at the time, they have to pay the fine, not the taxpayers,” said Mayor Jim Watson.
“This is a primary responsibility for employees,” said Riley Brockington, a River Guard adviser and advocate for extended photo radar areas.
Watson and Brockington’s comments came after recent requests for access to information were made to the city by the Canadian Federation of Taxpayers.
According to the findings, the city has issued a total of over 200,000 automated speeding tickets near schools and crossing red traffic lights from the beginning of 2019 to September 27, 2021.
The automated speeding program started in July 2020.
Of this total, 989 were issued to urban vehicles, although most were occupied by emergency vehicles such as paramedics, police and firefighters, who were exempted from fines.
Of the 989 tickets, 622 were red light tickets and 287 were for automatic speeding, while the remaining 80 were made by transit services for which the city was not damaged.
Below is a breakdown by ticket departments issued to city vehicles that the federation says were provided by the city.
Jay Goldberg, director of the Ontario Federation, said not forcing employees to pay fines was unfair and created a two-tier system.
“You can’t just have a group of people working for any kind of city department who don’t have to obey the law and know that if they go through a red light, they don’t have to pay a fine,” Goldberg said.
“If you have a photo radar, you [have] to walk all the way. “
“This is taxpayers’ money,” the mayor said
In a statement emailed to CBC News, city attorney David White said the allegations made under the Highway Traffic Act for red light cameras and photo radars were crimes against the owner, “resulting in the City of Ottawa, as the owner of the vehicle, is legally responsible for paying the fine. “
“As a result, the city does not require drivers to pay these fines, which is also in line with the provisions of the Employment Act prohibiting payroll deductions.”
At an unrelated event on Tuesday, Watson said he would ask employees to explore ways to recover costs.
“At the end of the day, it’s taxpayers’ money and individuals are paid by taxpayers,” Watson added. “They have to obey the law, and if they don’t, they have to be punished.”
CUPE Local 503, the largest union in the municipality, declined to comment.
A new “fleet safety program” is launched.
White said the city views speeding violations at red lights or photos as disciplinary matters “in accordance with the relevant collective agreement or employment contract and its disciplinary policy.”
Under a “fleet safety program” launched earlier this month, Ottawa drivers are given a work permit (ATO) that uses a similar system of provincial fault points “based on dangerous actions, conditions or preventable collisions, including speeding violations and non-compliance with a stop sign, “White said.
This could include “up to and including” measures to stop the ATO, he added.
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