Last year, our Premier gave a whole new meaning to the term “speed control” when he labelled municipal automatic speed enforcement cameras a “cash grab.” You will recall the firestorm and confusion that this provoked. When is a fine for speeding an unfair cash grab, and when is it welcome enforcement of traffic laws?
That was last year.
Since then, have we moved forward? Lately you may have noticed large “ontario.ca/ReducingSpeeding” advertisements in newspapers and other media. Instead of speed cameras, they promote increased police enforcement, enhanced road signage, and speed bumps. But what they don’t tell us is how much these measures would cost, how many would be needed, and which level of government would be responsible. They also omit the criteria which would determine the legitimacy of any installation requests.
We need to know how to access effective traffic control. The Leaside Residents Association (LRA) hears from residents on a regular basis about speeding cars and trucks on our residential streets. Yet here we are, early in 2026, still in need of traffic calming and speed reduction. Lack of enforcement is still today’s issue, and not just yesterday’s.
For true progress to take place, a record needs to be created proving that a problem exists. To do so, it’s important to report speeding problems when they occur. Let the police, MPP Stephanie Bowman, our City Councillor Rachel Chernos Lin, and the LRA know. Your vigilance does matter!
Let there be lights?
It’s now several months since North York Community Council approved installation of Integrated Pedestrian Signals (IPS) on Bayview Avenue at both Sutherland Drive and Parkhurst Boulevard, to improve safety at those intersections. Both locations have seen many accidents, quite frequently. The hope and expectation are that both IPS will create much greater safety for pedestrians, vehicles, and cyclists. But until they are actually installed, accidents – often very serious ones – continue to happen, including one in December at Parkhurst.
For financial reasons, the City tends to delay installations until the work can be twinned with other nearby road construction, thus far unscheduled. But there is a stronger safety argument to be made in favour of installing these IPS more promptly, rather than delaying until an opportunity arises in the indefinite future.
Time to renew!
Now with the new year fully in swing, it’s a good time to renew your LRA annual membership or join if you aren’t yet a member. Membership fees of $30 a year support professional legal and planning fees.
You are always welcome to attend our monthly LRA board meetings, which take place at 7:30 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month. Our February board meeting, on Wed., Feb. 4th, will be on Zoom. For contact information and more details and updates, visit leasideresidents.ca and press the Contact Us button, or leasideresidents.ca/contact-us.
