Edmonton approves $50K pilot for noisy vehicle surveillance system

Edmonton city council has greenlit a $50,000 pilot project to deploy cameras and microphones against noisy vehicles, sparking debate among councillors over the hefty price tag and legal hurdles.

Edmonton city council has greenlit a $50,000 pilot project to deploy cameras and microphones against noisy vehicles, sparking debate among councillors over the hefty price tag, legal hurdles, and privacy implications.

Coun. Michael Janz, who introduced the motion, said the technology is far more advanced than past attempts.

“It is now so precise it can pinpoint exactly what vehicle is emitting the noise,” Janz told council at Wednesday’s meeting, where the motion was introduced. “It’s held up in court. It’s been challenged multiple times in court in the United States… They do not have any of this technology yet in Canada. It exists in France, the United Kingdom, America, but it’s yet to be used in Canada”.

Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said he regularly hears complaints from residents and wants action.

“The amount of frustration that I hear every day from Edmontonians are noisy vehicles. People who deliberately make noise… People who deliberately disturb the peace of their neighbours, and I have no way to tell them that we are doing something to control it,” said Sohi.

City administration warned the $50,000 budget may not be realistic. David Jones, Edmonton’s chief bylaw officer, noted a 2020 pilot cost about $200,000.

“I don’t have anybody to assign to this, so I would have to look at reducing services in other areas,” Jones said.

Alberta Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Kris Sims, raised a similar concern in a post to X.

“I doubt this costs ‘just’ $50,000. So let’s find out,” she said.

Acting city solicitor Michael Gunther told councillors provincial law currently prevents the technology from being used for enforcement.

“For enforcement purposes… we don’t have authority to use this to issue tickets or take enforcement action. We would have the ability to use it for data collection,” Gunther explained. He added that “privacy implications” would need to be reviewed before the project moves forward.

Coun. Aaron Paquette raised concerns about both funding and effectiveness.

“We’re not sure if that budget is proper… even if it passes, it probably is not going to be successful with that particular budget on the board,” Paquette said. “There is some question about the enforcement ability of this and how we would navigate that… Right now, it looks like a Hail Mary to let the public know we’re doing something”.

He added the $50,000 cost will “inevitably grow” into requests for more money, resources and enforcement capacity.

The motion’s first part reads “That Administration establish a vehicle noise automated technology pilot project with one-time funding of $50,000 from the 2025 Council Contingency.”

Paquette's attempt to strike the first part failed, with only one councillor supporting him against the mayor and 10 others. The motion, which included a request for a report on the vehicle noise automated technology pilot project and future enforcement opportunities, passed 11-2.

Some negative reactions to the news appeared on X.

“So, surveillance?” asked the Alberta Prosperity Project.

“Ahh yes. Public surveillance programs for your ‘safety.’ @Danielle Smith don’t let our cities turn into woke authoritarian sanctuaries,” said another user.

At the city council meeting, city solicitor Michael Gunther confirmed that even pictures showing silhouettes of people could be considered personal information and raise privacy concerns.

“Does it capture noisy terrorist protests?” asked one user.

The city expects a report on the pilot project to be submitted by early 2027.