CAMS Ottawa

The Coalition Against More Surveillance

What Is New

December 2, 2020: The Coalition Against More Surveillance and the Criminalization and Punishment Education Project issue a statement condemning the Ontario Government's decision to fund CCTV systems.

Who We Are

The Coalition Against More Surveillance is a group of Ottawa residents, activists, and scholars who are very concerned about the potential use of video surveillance cameras by the City of Ottawa to monitor areas of the city, such as the ByWard Market and the new LRT stations (and potentially for other heavily policed areas like Overbrook, Jasmine Crescent, Caldwell Avenue, and Montreal Road).

Why We Are Concerned

Mayor Watson has called for a feasibility study for a pilot project to install targeted public surveillance cameras in the ByWard Market. This is being done in the hope that the cameras will deter crime and contribute to a safer environment. While we share concerns about ongoing violence in the Market, and in other Ottawa neighbourhoods, we do not think that installing surveillance cameras is an effective or appropriate solution. This is because the evidence shows that:

• Video surveillance does not reduce violence, including homicides.
• Video surveillance reduces individual privacy and creates massive information banks of residents going about their business.
• Video surveillance contributes to the over-policing of racialized communities and reinforces the trauma experienced by racialized individuals in Ottawa by creating a hostile environment in which to live.
• Video surveillance can chill the exercise of constitutionally protected rights such as freedom of expression and freedom of association.
• Video surveillance is used to target Black and other racialized communities, as well as First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples, youths, the homeless, and people living with mental illness. This puts it into conflict with the Equity and Inclusion Lens employed by the City of Ottawa for removing systemic barriers, fostering inclusion, and for promoting "a city for everyone."
• Video surveillance cameras are not foolproof and do not necessarily always capture clear and useful evidence of violence, harm, and conflict, which mostly occur at night. We should not hand over our privacy for a theoretical benefit to law enforcement after the harm has already been done.
• Video surveillance requires monitoring and storage systems, as well as safeguards to comply with privacy laws, which add to their cost.

What We Are Doing

CAMS hopes to draw attention to our concerns about increasing surveillance in Ottawa, specifically in neighbourhoods that are already overpoliced. These policing and surveillance efforts typically target areas that are occupied by a majority of people of colour, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples, and/or other marginalized groups. Additionally, many of these communities often lack funding for programs that could address the root causes of violence – such as after-school programs for youth. Therefore, through our public education and advocacy efforts, we will make municipal leaders aware of these concerns and encourage those with decision-making power to divest from this policing and surveillance strategy and instead invest in community programs, services, and supports.

How You Can Help

We wish to invite you to join us in voicing these concerns to Mayor Watson and to Ottawa's city councillors. Please use our letter-writing tool below.