On May 1 last year, a vehicle registered to one of Doug Ford’s cabinet ministers blew past an automated speed camera, going 70 km/h in a 40 zone and netting a $450 fine.
Less than three weeks later, another vehicle registered to a cabinet minister was snapped going 65 km/h in a 40 zone and given a $227.50 ticket. Two months after that, another ticket, this time $110 for driving at 57 in a 40.
Those three offences in 2024 weren’t the only examples.
In fact, documents obtained by Global News using freedom of information laws reveal that, over three years, vehicles registered to Ford’s cabinet minister received more than $3,300 in fines for speeding.
The figure represents the cost of 23 tickets handed out by speed cameras, which the province said ministers or staff have since repaid.
The fastest speed the vehicles were recorded going was 30 km/h over the limit, and the lowest speed was 11 km/h over the limit. On average, the government vehicles were snapped 17 km/h above the limit, with the average cost of the tickets $144.
The data comes from a request Global News made earlier this year for all automated speed enforcement tickets issued to vehicles registered to any of Ford’s 36 cabinet ministers.
The resulting documents, released by freedom of information officials, redact the first name, last name and ministry of the vehicles that received speeding tickets. That means the 23 tickets were given to the vehicles of cabinet ministers, though it is not clear which ministries or who was driving at the time.
Many senior politicians are driven by staff, and their vehicles are sometimes used by staff without them being inside.
The premier’s office declined to release the names of the ministers or ministries which received the tickets. They did not address questions asking when they became aware of the tickets or whether they had taken any steps to work out who was driving at the time.
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
“Any ticket or fine issued to a Minister’s vehicle has been paid personally out of pocket by the Minister or staff member directly,” a spokesperson said.
“We expect all government vehicles, operated by staff and/or Ministers, to be driven in a manner that respects traffic laws and road safety.”
Two of the speeding tickets were issued in 2023, 11 in 2024 and 10 between January and May 2025.
Ford to remove speed cameras
Revelations about the number of speed camera tickets issued to government vehicles come as Ford rolls out his plan to end the use of automated speed enforcement in Ontario.
The premier and his transportation minister said last month they would table legislation to ban municipalities from operating speed cameras, a system Ford repeatedly referred to as a “tax grab.”
When the legislation is tabled, it will complete a policy walkback from the premier who introduced the regulations in 2019 that govern speed cameras in the first place, bringing into force a law written by the previous Liberal government.
A 2022 regulation also introduced by Ford’s government created the penalty structure for vehicles caught speeding. It decreed drivers would pay $5 per kilometre over the limit up to 19 km/h over, with higher penalties for going 20, 30 or 50 kilometres over.
The majority of the 23 tickets issued to minister vehicles fell into the lower category of $5 for each kilometre over the limit. Six of the 23 offences, however, were for driving more than 20 kilometres over the limit, which carries a fine of $7.5 per km/h, according to the rules Ford’s government tabled.
One vehicle travelling 30 km/h over the limit reached a fee of $12 per kilometre.
Ford has complained that the speed cameras are too sensitive, issuing tickets for minor infractions.
“I’ll use the stats just in Toronto because I know 32,000 tickets for going two kilometres over, four kilometres over, sometimes 10, 15 kilometres over — in three months,” the premier previously said.
None of the tickets given to minister vehicles were going less than 11 kilometres over the limit, and the average speed of 17 was also above Ford’s example.
Critics say Ford is creating speeding culture
Ontario Liberal MPP Rob Cerjanec, who has been advocating to keep the speed cameras in place, asked whether cabinet support to remove speed cameras was born from experience.
“It makes you wonder, who’s advocating to the premier to take speed cameras out of school zones,” he said.
“Could it be ministers? Could it be staff? Could it be his family? At the end of the day, school zones keep kids safe and they help bring down the speed in neighbourhoods.”
Cerjanec said whether it was cabinet ministers who were driving at the time the tickets were issued was immaterial, adding the “buck stops” with the minister.
“Accountability matters, transparency matters,” he said.
“Whether it is them driving or someone else, they’re (likely) in the vehicle. We’ve got to make sure that folks aren’t speeding all over the place, left, right and centre. Going 20, 30 over, that’s not OK.”
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
