Ontario to temporarily distribute ‘old’ licence plates while new ones are fixed
This is good, but what I don’t understand is why they’re only going to start handing out their stock of old ones on March 5th instead of doing it immediately once they knew there was going to need to be a recall. Giving out faulty new ones should be a last resort, not something you randomly decide to keep doing until next Thursday. If I’m wrong about this and there’s a good reason to do things that way feel free to set me straight, but it comes off as arbitrary and dumb.
But whether or not I’m correct, what they’re doing now is a much better way of dealing with the situation than whatever the hell Lisa Thompson was doing here.
Reporter: “Is it more important for them to be able to be read by high-tech plate readers or by the naked eye?”
“The fact of the matter is, we are making sure that we have employed new technology that is already in use by other jurisdictions, as I said, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, Nova Scotia, 13 states. And we are confident in the plate that has been presented. They work.”
Reporter: “Is it appropriate for you to be calling the previous plates ‘Liberal plates?’ Does that mean your plates are Conservative plates?”
“Oh, OK. Well, the fact of the matter is, a number of Ontarians for a number of years expressed frustrations with the peeling and flaking plates that they had returned. So we knew that the status quo was not an option.”
Reporter: “Is this a thing to be politicized?”
“Well, the fact of the matter is the flaking and peeling plates have been around for a number of years. And the Liberal government at the time chose to ignore it. But we’ve moved forward. We have employed new technologies that other jurisdictions are using. And we have confidence in the testing that has happened to date in terms of readability. And we look forward to having Ontarians embrace the plates.”
Reporter: “Are you going to keep issuing them?”
“Well actually, what we’re doing is we’re celebrating a new design that employed new technology that has been proven in other jurisdictions. And we stand by our plates.”
Reporter: “The government is facing criticism that these plates are now putting [children who are the subject of] Amber Alerts in danger because drivers can’t read the plates at nighttime … What’s your reaction to that?”
“Well again, I want to share with everyone that we’re using modern technology that’s already been employed in other provinces and states. We are open to people’s feedback.”
Reporter: “What happens if there is a drunk driver on the 401 and a police officer cannot identify them because they cannot see their licence plate?”
“We have worked with our key stakeholders and our plates are readable. Thank you very much.”