Description
We, the undersigned residents of Ontario, are calling on Premier Doug Ford to resign due to a growing pattern of decisions that have made Ontario a less safe, less respectful, and less evidence-based place to live.

Premier Ford’s actions show a consistent failure to understand—or acknowledge—why key safety measures exist in the first place, particularly when it comes to transportation, road safety, and municipal governance.

 

Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) and Road Safety
Premier Ford has moved to scrap Automated Speed Enforcement (speed cameras) while ignoring the very reasons they were introduced:

• During the COVID-19 pandemic, open and empty streets led to widespread stunt driving and street racing, resulting in serious injuries and deaths. Speed cameras were introduced as a response to combat dangerous drivers.
• Numerous studies showed that ASE reduced speeding by nearly 50%, especially in school zones and on major arterial roads.
• Municipalities repeatedly asked for reasonable reforms, such as adjusting ticket thresholds for drivers slightly over the limit, improving signage, and hardening camera infrastructure — not an outright ban.
• Some municipalities, like Brampton and Newmarket, had already installed raised or reinforced camera systems to prevent vandalism well before the provincial ban took effect.
• Places in Europe don't have those kinds of problems because they reduce accidents, injuries, and death, which was the goal in Ontario municipalities that had them installed within the last 5 years or so.

Instead of working with municipalities, the Premier ignored their concerns and removed a proven safety tool — effectively rewarding reckless drivers and vandals who deliberately damaged public safety infrastructure.

The news stations exposed the ministers who sped excessively through neighbourhood roads where speed cameras were installed, in which they deserved to pay the price for their actions, and definitely not showing mercy to other people (like kids) around.

If Doug is dismissing the Automated Speed Enforcement cameras as a “cash grab,” then by the same logic, traditional police-issued speeding tickets would also have to be considered a cash grab. Both are enforcement tools designed to deter dangerous behavior, not revenue-generation schemes.

 

Police Resources and Public Safety
By removing speed cameras:

• Police are forced back into manual speed enforcement, tying officers to radar traps instead of allowing them to focus on violent crime, impaired driving, and emergency response.
• This shift weakens overall public safety and wastes limited policing resources.

It sends the message that those who speed excessively or damage public property are being indirectly supported, while responsible road users are ignored.

A brief aside from those stuff:
Although the Premier supports removing dangerous drivers from the roads, banning speed cameras ignores the reality of enforcement. Police officers cannot remain permanently stationed at every high-risk location.

Automated Speed Enforcement complements police work by deterring speeding around the clock, improving compliance, and freeing officers to respond to impaired driving and other serious crimes. Removing this tool reduces safety rather than improving it.

 

Flawed Alternatives and Ignored Consequences
Premier Ford promotes traffic-calming alternatives without acknowledging their limitations:

• Speed bumps, when installed excessively, can slow emergency responders, with cumulative delays potentially costing lives. This includes major arterial/rural roads.
  Doug’s plan is to fight gridlock? Well, traffic volumes/maybe congestion would increase hour by hour if the speed bumps were installed on major arteries (unless it would be less powerful for humps, like a 25% impact).
• Roundabouts, while effective in some areas, require space and cannot realistically be implemented in older, dense neighbourhoods like Downtown Toronto.
• Municipalities — not Queen’s Park — understand their local road conditions best.

Yet the Premier continues to impose one-size-fits-all solutions from the provincial level.

From my perspective: Narrowing lane widths (especially on arterial roads) could help discourage speeding by changing driver perception; however, implementing this approach across urban municipalities would be time-consuming, costly, and impractical on a large scale.

 

Disrespect Toward Municipal Governments
Premier Ford has publicly mocked municipal councillors over large speed-limit signs, despite the fact that:

• These signs were required by provincial direction, not municipal choice.
• If the Premier believes they are excessive, responsibility lies with the province — not municipalities forced to comply.

This pattern reflects a broader disregard for local governments and their ability to govern safely.

 

Attacks on Active Transportation and Cyclist Safety
Premier Ford has also taken a confrontational stance toward bike lanes, seeking to remove them or prevent municipalities from reallocating even a single vehicle lane — even on roads with low traffic volumes.

This approach:

• Increases risk for cyclists and pedestrians
• Ignores the best practices, where protected bike infrastructure improves safety for all road users
• Undermines climate, congestion, and safety goals

The Premier has previously acknowledged that the absence of bike lanes on major roads increases the risk of serious injury. Despite this, his current actions and statements undermine active transportation infrastructure that is specifically designed to protect cyclists on higher-risk roadways.

 

Lack of Accountability and Public Conduct
The Premier has also demonstrated poor judgment in public communications, including:

• Making comments about a fatal incident without full information, later claiming he had “limited information” and that he “respected the judge’s decision” — statements that fell far short of a meaningful apology to the person affected and acquitted.
• Repeatedly introducing or supporting new legislation that sparks large-scale protests at Queen’s Park, indicating deep public dissatisfaction and loss of trust.

 

Our Call
Taken together, these actions show a Premier who:

• Ignores evidence and expert studies
• Dismisses municipalities and local knowledge
• Undermines public safety
• Escalates public division rather than governing responsibly

Ontario deserves leadership that prioritizes safety, humility, collaboration, and accountability.

 

Even though this wouldn’t work, but it’s better than nothing, We Call On:

1. Premier Doug Ford to resign as Premier of Ontario
2. The Government of Ontario to restore municipal authority over proven safety tools like Automated Speed Enforcement
3. Future provincial decisions to be made with public consultation, transparency, and evidence-based reasoning

 

Closing
Ontario can and must do better.
For safer streets, safer communities, and a government that listens — it’s time for change.

P.S. I have seen other people making petitions to have him resign. I thought I would put this out for more things that really should be taken action.
The next provincial election won't happen this June because the premier called an early election in February 2025. So the next one would be in 2030. Who knows what other trouble he's going to do in Ontario for four more years to come?