Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government is proposing to limit debate and avoid public input on three pieces of legislation, including one that would end the province’s speed camera program.
Government House Leader Steve Clark is proposing to fast track a red tape reduction bill that includes banning speed cameras, a labour bill and an emergency management bill.
Clark’s proposal indicates the government plans to stop any further debate at the second reading stage for the three bills, then entirely bypass the committee stage that usually follows — a time to hear from the public on the bill and make any amendments — and limit debate time for the final, third reading stage.
City officials are pushing back against Doug Ford’s plan to remove speed cameras, gathering at a safety summit at City Hall with experts to make their case. Lane Harrison has more.
Ford has been vocal over the past couple of months in his opposition to speed cameras, calling them a “cash grab” only meant to generate revenue for municipalities, but the communities themselves, as well as parents, police chiefs and researchers at the Hospital for Sick Children have said they save lives and should stay.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles says matters in all three of the bills deserve public scrutiny and attention, but this government is not interested in debating the issues.
The government limited debate and committee time on numerous bills in the legislature’s spring sitting, and Liberal parliamentary leader John Fraser says it feels like Groundhog Day as the government already starts bypassing normal processes in week two of the fall sitting.
