Zero Vision?

Blinded by Buzz Words

I very much admire those writers who can post more regularly than I (and many of them are just as busy). The Durham by-election is about to be called, and we've been ratcheting up our efforts since the New Year. This is one of the updates I plan to post soon, I mention it now though, as this is just one of the things that has been keeping me away from my writing lately. Before I post anything else though, I must send an update on my last article. I have some news:

The Region followed through, and sent a number of documents pertaining to the Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) program. I have copied this response below, with links to these documents. They are public, and it is easy to find them if you know the dates of the meetings in which they were presented, such as:

https://pub-durhamregion.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=171

You might also want to see the Region's FAQ page (for some basic questions and answers): www.durham.ca/en/living-here/automated-speed-enforcement.aspx

It would be challenging to dig up the entire history of a program like this without some guidance; there have been a lot of meetings over the past five years. Along with the information email the Region sent to me, I have included a response to various staff, Councillors and the Mayor; the key points at least (because each is somewhat different based on individual conversations and correspondence). It is important that we residents (the taxpayers who shoulder the cost of all this) have input. I will seem like a pest to those at the Region (and Town) who are just doing their jobs (and who maybe forget occasionally who pays, not just salaries, but for decisions made). The points I bring up here are important, and they are of great concern to many people in this community (having spoken with so many of them, door to door).

To clarify (because this is always the point on which this discussion is dismissed), no one is disputing the fact that people shouldn't speed in school zones, or that excessive speed in residential areas results in higher fatalities (in the event of an accident).

Although I'd be curious to dig deeper into the papers on which this chart is based. Only 60% of pedestrians die when hit by a car at 80kmh, in one study, and 15% at 50. Both of these figures seem far less then I would have imagined. This aside for the moment, we see now where the Vision Zero people are getting their numbers, as they proudly display those 20kmh signs. The latest reduction in speed limits (50 to 40, 60 to 50) is just the beginning, it would seem.

Every traffic fatality is a tragedy, of course. Again, this is not the argument; I am certain though, I will be called out for even questioning these statistics. "One death is one death too many," is a familiar refrain (to justify an authority's actions); but this does all seem a little like the War of Drugs, the War on Terror, the War on _______ (fill in the blank). The more the authorities crack down, however, the more the deaths (for different reasons) seem to go up. Not surprisingly, governments and the media avoid an examination of those those post-intervention numbers like the plague; in case they too obviously contradict the carefully crafted narrative. Moving right along. . .

The reason for pressing forward with this is that another agenda is being advanced, once again, under the guise of public safety (it's always about public safety). It does feel sometimes that our representatives are being just a little disingenuous about their motives for supporting these programs. Unless we are seeing an actual real-world example of that ‘One-dimensional Man’ Herbert Marcuse describes (in his book of the same name) who always falls for advertising and propaganda (his own advertising and propaganda in this case) because he simply cannot see beyond the surface appearance of things. Hence: 'Zero Vision.' If it is the case that people in office can only (or will only) accept the corporate Stakeholder's sales pitch, then I suggest they should not be in office; because the concerns of the real Stakeholders (the people who elected them, the residents and taxpayers) must be heard and considered.

I've included this link to the sponsors of Vision Zero before (scroll down), the developers of technology who would just love to sign a contract with Durham Region (and all Regions) without any meddlesome public interference.

A side note (referring back to the EMF risk outlined in my last two posts): Self-driving cars (and various other proposed technologies) require the connectivity of 5G to operate. So all of this talk of convenience — the speed at which you'll be able to download a movie, or play a game — suddenly takes on a new complexion. 5G is not about your convenience and enjoyment at all (just as Vision Zero is not about your safety). The reason no one cares about the heath implications of EMF smog (I'm still waiting for a response to safety concerns, from a few levels of government), is that 5G is all about the implementation of Vision Zero and Net Zero technology — 'for your safety of course.' (The irony)

The Isle of Man (my home away from home for many years), as many of you know, doesn’t have speed limits on the open roads (same with the Autobahn in Germany). There are limits in town, of course, but not on the open road; the rationale being, if you drive a vehicle you know the limits of this vehicle, and you should know your own abilities. It is assumed, also, that you will have some common sense, and that you will take into consideration road conditions and other factors.

‘Mad Sunday’ The Mountain Road, Isle of Man. 2008

Conversely, if you're a pedestrian, even a child (the time of life when we internalize these important life lessons) you learn to look both ways before you cross any road (literal and metaphorical). I can't resist sharing this little clip again, from Charlie Wilson’s War; it is apropos:

“I love you Charlie, but you're a grown man who still hasn't learned to looked both ways before he crosses the f*cking street.”

I will be portrayed as cavalier, uncaring, cynical — mean-spirited and paranoid even — for pursuing this, and for questioning such a laudable program; but this isn't about that one-dimensional pubic safety argument. I'm not against speed cameras, per se, as you will read below; rather, I’m questioning that raft of tech companies and service providers who sponsor all this, and who clearly want to sell their products to Regions and Municipalities around the world:

‘3M is committed to helping city planners and traffic engineers build the safer, more efficient complete streets of the future as we work Toward Zero Deaths on urban roads.’

It all sounds great of course, but is this just another of those unattainable objectives that will guarantee manufacturers and service providers an endless stream of orders - all funded by the unwitting (inattentive and uninformed) taxpayer.

‘Share the power of data with everyone,’ proclaims Numetric. ‘Give Stakeholders the access and tools to perform their analysis.’ So that they can design the ‘safety’ products and services that local Regions and Municipalities apparently have to purchase (with our tax dollars).

Again, there is more here than I can comfortably include here, so I won’t comment on all of these companies, as I’d intended. For my own interest, I’d ranked them on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 for reasonable, perhaps, to 10, ‘alarm bells are ringing’), I will return to this list in a future piece on the Metaverse, but let me include the two extremes here, and you can decide for yourself if you want to read up on the others:

Number 1: Treetop Products (Batavia, IL): Safety-Striped Speed Bump SALE — Special Price $74.85 16% OFF ~

Number 10: Ecopia Tech: ‘. . . using AI to build a digital twin of the world, converting high resolution geospatial imagery into comprehensive, accurate, and up-to-date vector maps for use in data-driven decision-making across industries. . . climate resilience: High-resolution Land Cover Data From Ecopia AI Now Publicly Available.’

Also see Ecopia's partner company, Maxar (which ranks 11 on my scale of 1 to 10). This ‘eye in the sky’ for hire takes surveillance into space, monitoring anything and everything. The company’s core value number four, I find particularly disturbing: ‘WE ACT LIKE OWNERS’ . . . I’m sure the PR department didn’t quite mean this the way it sounds, but the age of Surveillance Capitalism is here, and we better start to understand how the technocrats see our world. . . Or is it already their world?

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The technocrat's need for absolute control, as manifest in this latest obsessive quest for ‘Zero,’ is not a realistic goal; it is a marketing slogan, pure and simple. The War on Drugs and the War on Terror did not eliminate drugs, or terrorism, but military contractors profited handsomely as the rights of individuals were gradually stripped away. Not only did the free world not get any safer, it become measurably less safe — and demonstrably less free. Just as the impossible 'War on Carbon' today, with its 'Net Zero' goals, promises the same (more expense for taxpayers and less freedoms for individuals), 'Vision Zero' has very real, and significant costs attached — listed, in part, in the reports from 2019 and 2023 (below) — and you don't have to be a visionary to see (when you check out Vision Zero's partners) that there will be other unforeseen (and undisclosed) consequences (and costs). Behind all the feel-good corporate catch phrases and buzz words, lurk globalist apparatchiks and surveillance capitalists — the Fourth Industrial Revolution's Stakeholders.

If you live in this Region, and paid for this technology through your taxes, I do hope you will look over the reports below yourself. My arguments against all of this, as you've seen, are based on cost, privacy and health issues, though I brought up two new ideas / points, in my letters in reply. One, to the Mayor specifically (as Chair of the Works Committee at the Region), is based on where technology and services deemed worthwhile are sourced.

‘. . . there are 500 companies in Canada that provide video surveillance technology, and over two hundred in Ontario, so this technology should be sourced here at home (I would suggest). If the precise service doesn't exist currently, this is an opportunity to develop custom technology here in Durham; which I understand is one of the Region's goals, through the SPARKS Centre: to establish Durham as a 'Regional Innovation Centre' (RIC). I see the current contract with Redflex / Verra Mobility comes to a close in July of this year, so this would be the perfect opportunity.’

The direction any of this surveillance technology will take in the future is another concern; so we do need a Digital Charter to protect us — we absolutely need to stop data collected from going to third parties. The following though, caught my eye too:

‘As one option, the group is evaluating the use of an Administrative Monetary Penalties system for ASEs, similar to the means currently used for parking enforcement by some of the area municipalities.’

I've spoken out about the discriminatory, and intrusive nature of this phone app technology for parking (I cannot even park at the trails I've walked for decades now as a result of this). The consequences of linking all of this through Open Banking (in some form) for purposes of real time auditing and taxation, and for collecting real-time fees and fines, is precisely the scenario many of my monetary reform friends have been working to avoid for years.

Again, I requested an opportunity to meet in person, as there is much to discuss. So much is happening so quickly, and the renewal of the ASE contract is coming up soon, so we must discuss alternatives as soon as possible. . . and get a lot of other things on the table as well.

I must wrap this up here. Again, I thank you for your interest, and support, and I hope you will find the Region's note, and links informative.

David

January 19th 2024: ‘Works Committee delegation - follow up’

Good morning Mr. Ward, thank you for your delegation at last week’s Works Committee meeting. In response to your questions regarding the Automated Speed Enforcement program, please see the below information provided by Regional Works Department staff. Additionally, here is a list of staff reports related to the Automated Speed Enforcement program which may provide further information to you:

· 2018-INFO-32 – March 2, 2018

· 2019-W-66 – September 4, 2019

· 2020-INFO-45 – May 15, 2020

· 2021-INFO-56 – May 28, 2021

· 2023-COW-25 – Jun 14, 2023

Please let us know if you have any difficulty accessing the reports.

[In response to my questions]

· What information is being collected? – the automated speed enforcement cameras capture vehicle speed and take photographs of the rear licence plates of any vehicle travelling above a programmed threshold.

· What third parties have access to this information? – our vendor – Redflex Traffic Systems/Verra Mobility, and the Joint Processing Centre run by the City of Toronto with whom we have legal agreements in place limiting use of the data for ASE program purposes.

· Is the information being monetized? – fines can be issued after a Provincial Offences Officer reviews an image and determines whether or not there is sufficient evidence to lay a charge – fine revenue is returned to the Province of Ontario and the municipalities where the offence occurred. Other than traffic fines, the information is not monetized.

· Is AI facial recognition (or any AI) being employed? - No

· Are license plates being recorded (by traffic surveillance cameras)? Yes

· Is other data, such as emissions, being collected (through SMART streetlights or other technology)? No

Regards,

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