EDMONTON, AB: For those of us who consider photo radar tickets an insidious form of taxation, Transport Minister Ric McIver’s press conference on Tuesday provided some hope that – unlike other provincial conservative governments before it – the UCP would finally outlaw radar cameras in the 27 Alberta towns and cities that employ them. (Provincial highways remain photo-radar-free.) .No such luck. In similar fashion to NDP Transport Minister Brian Mason two years ago, McIver kicked the can down the road by announcing another study that he estimated will take two years and will determine to what extent photo radar—Automated Traffic Enforcement (ATE) technology in the jargon—is used for safety reasons, and to what extent it is merely a “cash cow” for municipalities. .Mason had announced a similar third-party review in the spring of 2017, which he had originally said would be completed by the end of that year, but which took over two years..That $190,000 review, conducted by the Calgary accounting firm MNP, found that although Alberta had more ATE’s than any other province, the decrease in overall collisions over a 10-year period – a 1.4 per cent reduction – was no greater than in jurisdictions without photo radar such as BC and Ontario. (One suspects the general ageing of the population might be more of a factor.).In its survey of 1,200 Albertans, MNP also found that “63 per cent of respondents believed to a moderate or great extent that ATE is primarily focused on revenue generation.” In other words, a “cash cow.”.As a result of the review, in March of this year Mason announced guidelines that would force municipalities to disclose ATE locations and the rationale for their use. He also required towns and cities to submit reports to the governments, starting in March 2020, that would tie photo radar locations to safety. .“I think in some cases photo radar in the province of Alberta has been a cash cow,” Mason said at his news conference. “It’s my intention that we are going to humanely put the cash cow down.”.Easy to say when – like Mason – one is fairly sure that one’s government is going to be defeated in the following month’s election. (A reliable source told us at the time that Mason retired because he had no desire to spend four years in opposition.).For although euthanizing the cash cow would prove popular with the majority of the electorate, towns and cities have become reliant on photo radar revenue. And with the UCP government’s reduced grants to municipalities, revenue sources like this have become even more precious..In 2016-18 Calgary – with 950 photo radar locations – raised $38.1 million while Edmonton – with just 272 cameras – brought in $50.1 million (suggesting that the latter city is more devious where it places its traps.) And of the total $220 million collected from ATEs in the province that year, $64 million was channelled back to provincial coffers..Accordingly, Alberta governments are in no hurry to kill the cow that produces the golden milk..For those of us who were hoping for some respite, McIver, at his presser, raised our hopes a little when he said, “We will be freezing in time the use of photo radar devices effective Dec. 1, 2019. This freeze will remain in place while we work with municipalities to refine guidelines, and while we work with municipalities and police to collect better data on how photo radar is used.”. Trudeau on WE scandal: Case closed .But rather than preventing municipalities from using their cameras, McIver said this merely meant that they would not be allowed to increase the number during the collection of “better data” that could take up to two years..For the victims of photo radar – especially in Edmonton, where Mayor Don Iveson appears to be using it as another weapon in his war on the automobile – the recourse is to buy a prismatic license plate cover for around $45 and risk the $150 fine if caught by police, or to invest $900 in the latest generation of radar detector that can pick up a radar camera even when it isn’t actually taking a picture. There is also a spray available online..A spokesman at JB’s Power Centre in Edmonton, reports that the licence plate covers are flying off the shelf..There is another solution: drive slower. But for many of us, that seems a desperate measure..Ric Dolphin is the Alberta Political Editor of the Western Standard. He has had a long career in journalism with Maclean’s, the Globe and Mail, Edmonton Journal, Calgary Herald, Alberta Report, and the original Western Standard. He was previously Publisher and Chief Editor of Insight into Government. rdolphin@westernstandardonline.com. Photo Radar Stats
