By Tammy Flores
August 28th, 2013 Edition
In my last article I pointed out some sections in a 2005 judgment that I suspect was the Ministry of Transportation’s “bible” for how they are treating people that were placed in Plate Denial, in error.
Chris Conroy, an Analyst with the Ministry of Transportation, said 407ETR has to follow consumer protection laws, however, stops short when it comes to enforcing that 407ETR complies and passes the buck to the Ministry of Consumer Services.
So whose job is it to ensure 407ETR complies with consumer protection laws? As reported before, the Ministry of Consumer Services says, “It would be inappropriate for the Ministry of Consumer Services to mediate or investigate a matter where the business is regulated by a designated regulator…” and the Ministry of Transportation says, “I understand you have previously contacted the Ministry of Consumer Services, Consumer Protection Branch, which is in the best position to address consumer protection issues.”
So who is telling the truth? The Ministry of Transportation or the Ministry of Consumer Services? This is a perfect example of how our government services pass the buck when a decision that has to be made is political. And where are the politicians? Still sitting on the fence. They will never make a decision that is in the best interests of the public unless there is a public outcry and unfortunately we are living in a time period where the public is just fine with being “arm chair athletes”. They have an opinion on how everything should be but they will never “play the game”.
How does it make you feel to think we pay these public servants, very well, with our tax dollars and they can’t make decisions on things within their jurisdiction to make? It makes me question what these agencies are there for. Window dressing? A false sense of security? I am sorry but, I don’t want my hard earned dollars going towards bureaucracies that don’t work. This should outrage people.
Politicians are shooting themselves in the foot. These type of situations are the very reason people can’t be bothered with politics anymore and only 50% of the population votes. They figure nothing will ever change so why bother? I believe that even though we can’t change everything that is wrong with the system, we can do little things that will improve the lives of those around us and I will never give in to that type of negative attitude.
If there is to be a “toll market” here in Ontario, I think it is worthwhile to do it right from the beginning. If we allow this to grow as is, normal everyday people are going to be in a heap of trouble. We will find ourselves in the same predicament we find the “telecom market”. The need to change policy to protect consumers to the demise of established Canadian companies. Please sign the petition https://campaign.to/StopThe407EtrsAbuseOfPower/petition/13/
