Clinton News Record, 2016-05-18, Page 5Wednesday, May 18, 2016 • News Record 5
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Results of meet in last week's paper
Mason Campbell jumped 1.76 metres breaking the record for Brooke Ribey achieved 4.51 metres in junior girls running long Mackenize Berard jumps a hurdle. His time was 7:00.35 minutes
junior boys. jump and 9.64 metres in triple jump. for the 2000 metre steeplechase open.
Ontario climate plan signals stoney future
Premier Kathleen Wynne is
preparing to impose another
suite of climate -related energy
policies on the province. The
Climate Change Action Plan
promises to be even more
expensive and more econom-
ically intrusive than the Green
EnergyAct. Which should give
voters cause for alarm.
The public details of the
plan that have emerged so far
outline a policy thrust that
sounds more like a war on
personal mobility and the
automotive industry than an
environmental blueprint. It
has already proved so con-
cerning to the auto industry
that the government has been
forced to reassure the sector it
means it no harm.
For instance, draft plans of
the policy say Ontario intends
to require that 80% of the
province either walk, take
transit or bike to work by 2050.
How are they going to do that
without imposing draconian
new rules on where compa-
nies choose to invest and
where people live? It's hard to
imagine that rule applying in
Ontario counties where bus
service is limited.
Another key aim of the pol-
icy is ensuring that Ontario
drivers purchase 1.7 million
electric and hybrid cars by
2024. Given that slightly more
than 6,000 such vehicles were
sold in the province last year,
increasing the take-up rate by
a factor 242 in only eight years
seems beyond optimistic.
Ontario Environment
Minister Glen Murray says
improved incentives will help
convince consumers switch to
electric propulsion. Ontario
already has one of the richest
incentive programs in the
world for electric vehicles --
up to $14,000 per car -- so it's
difficult to imagine how much
more taxpayers will be tapped
to make this happen. And
how will the government jus-
tify taxing lower-income peo-
ple more to ensure richer con-
sumers can buy the latest
techno-gadget?
The electrification goal is
so ambitious the Automotive
Parts Manufacturers Associ-
ation of Canada calls it
impossible. "You can't get
there," spokesperson Flavio
Volpe said flatly this week.
"Automakers don't make
that many."
Which brings us to the scar-
iest aspect of Murray's draft
plan: what will be its effect on
the main economic driver of
much of Ontario, the auto
industry? Hundreds of thou-
sands of Ontario jobs depend
on building gas -powered
vehicles. Manufacturers may
not be willing to invest in a
jurisdiction legislating against
owning its products.
Wynne's government
would do well to recall the
slew of damaging economic
consequences that flowed
from its Green Energy Act,
and make sure that their
Phase II doesn't duplicate or
even top that damage.
- Postmedia Network
Kathleen Wynne.
Contributed photo
Bloop of Earls shown no social media mercy
Social media is proving to be
an excellent business tool.
Companies can create a buzz
around new goods and services
largely for free, expand their
customer base and develop
relationships, share content
and target specific audiences,
get instant feedback and drive
traffic to their websites.
But social media also ampli-
fies any missteps and there is
no mercy in the digital space.
Not to single out one
company -- since any business
could find itself on the wrong
side of the trolls -- but the expe-
rience of Earls Restaurant Co. is
illustrative of the perils of doing
business in the politically cor-
rectyear of 2016.
It started with the dress code.
Earls was sideswiped by a
CBC Marketplace report in
March on restaurants that
require female serving staff to
wear "sexualized" clothing.
Until then, Earls had
a suggested dress code that
recommended a black skirt
with an option to wear
straight -cut black pants on
request.
Not good enough. The fury
unleashed in social media drew
into the fray the Ontario
Human Rights Commission,
which demanded an end to
"sexualized workplace dress
codes"
Earls was forced to amend its
code to the effect that women
could wear dresses, skirts or
pants as they wish.
Then came the beef scandal.
Earls announced it would buy
beef from a supplier in Kansas
accredited by Human Farm
Animal Care, a non-profit
based in Virginia that claims to
inspect farms, ranches and
slaughter facilities to ensure cat-
tle are humanely raised and
slaughtered. It awards them
Certified Humane label. Sobeys
and Safeway are advertising
their certification through
pitchman Jamie Oliver and
A&W is preaching a similar nar-
rative. It seemed like a good
idea.
Again, social media had
plenty to say on either side of
the issue.
Had the company done its
homework, it would have
found Canadian cattle is raised
as humanely as in the U.S. and
the Earls move, however well
intentioned, was derided as a
marketing ploy rather than ethi-
cal action. It has been reversed.
And, finally, a man was una-
ble to get a high chair at two
Earls restaurants for his baby. In
the time it takes to write a
140 -character tweet, his com-
plaint was set for a hearing
before the B.C. Human Rights
Tribunal.
The lesson in all this for any
business is: Don't smirk, it can
happen to you.
- Postmedia Network