Editorials - Oct. 21, 2022

Relegated... but to where?  

Ye (the artist formerly known as Kanye West) has put in a bid to purchase social media site Parler, after being banned from Twitter and Instagram for anti-Semitic posts.
   

This follows Donald Trump starting Truth Social when he similarly found himself banned from mainstream social media sites after Twitter found repeated instances of Trump using the platform to incite violence, especially after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on The Capitol.
   

While it’s difficult to see blatant racism, lies, hatred and other offensive behaviour, driving the offenders to these unregulated sites risks creating an extreme echo chamber for their followers. These new, often far right-wing, platforms offer no fact-checking or controls to inhibit incitement to violence creating an environment where Trump or “Ye” can control their followers to an almost cult-like degree.
   

If there can be no universal regulatory body that holds internet users accountable, at least the natural discourse between differing points of view can offer some measure of balance. If they are allowed to remain on “mainstream” social media like Twitter and Facebook (hopefully, with warning labels as we have seen in the past), they are more likely to be challenged with reality and facts by other users and it could dissuade their followers from being completely brainwashed. – DS

Getting to know you

As the voting window for the municipal election begins to close, the hope is that voters everywhere will have done their homework and voted for the representatives who best represent their views. And that all depends on who you are and what you care about. Young parents may care more about youth opportunity and recreation infrastructure than a business owner who cares more about tourism and support. Some in Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh, for example, will ask what candidates think about a proposed gravel pit, while in Wingham, all some people want to know is a candidate’s stance on the Howson Dam and Morris-Turnberry residents may be concerned about relations with their neighbours. 
   

Over the weekend, Stratford-Perth Pride issued a release claiming that St. Marys Council candidate Barry Charles Brebner sent the group a “homophobic and transphobic” e-mail in response to its request that all candidates in this month’s election take the group’s “Vote with Pride” pledge. The group chose not to repeat the candidate’s words, though he said the group was free to share his words far and wide.
   

AJ Adams, president of Stratford-Perth Pride urged all voters to “take the time to learn where your candidates stand on this important issue.” And while Adams’ comments pertain to this specific issue, they are far more universal and could be applied to any issue.
   

Here at The Citizen, we produced our election guide two weeks ago. Profiling over 40 candidates across five municipalities demands that you keep it broad, allowing those candidates to identify the issues they see as important. From there, your job as a voter begins. Read up, do research, ask questions and attend meetings. If you want to know how a specific candidate would vote on a specific issue, ask them. That’s what Stratford-Perth Pride did and they got their answer.
   

This is a crucial exercise and a necessary part of the democratic process. Ask questions now to avoid being surprised later. – SL 

Cash or charge? 

Thanks to a successful lawsuit (successful in that it generated a settlement), Canadians could soon see an upcharge any time they use a credit card to pay a bill instead of cash, cheque or using the debit system.

 

Reports indicate the charge may be as much as one to three per cent of the total bill which may seem like a small amount, but one per cent of a $150 grocery bill, 52 times a year, equals half a week’s groceries, and that’s just one regular expense families face.
   

With cellular phone company Telus applying to the Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) to be allowed to apply the charge on its bills, other companies, that don’t need to seek such permissions, either already have started applying the charge or will soon.
   

The major problem here is that businesses have already been both paying and charging for the cost of using credit cards. The cost of using credit has been a problem for years, but businesses have found ways to make it happen, usually by raising prices. Unlike, say, utilities, most businesses don’t offer up an itemized bill showing what percentage of the bill goes to actual products and what goes to keeping the lights on, paying the staff wages and, yes, paying for the right to use credit cards at the establishment in question.
   

The reality is that allowing companies to implement a charge to cover an expense they’ve already internalized (and likely passed on to the customer) is just allowing them to double-dip on the same cost. Now, if Telus and its peers decided instead to offer a discount to people not using credit cards, that would be a different situation entirely. – JDS