[ridenrain]

$1:

Only $2.25 from new Ont. Yellow Ribbon licence plates to help military families
By Keith Leslie (CP) – 21 hours ago

TORONTO — It's "offensive" and "misleading" for the Ontario government to promise to donate a portion of the sale price from new "Support our Troops" licence plates to help military families and then give only a tiny fraction to charity, opposition critics charged Thursday.

The province unveiled the yellow ribbon plates to honour Canadian troops on Remembrance Day, billing them as "a fitting tribute to the heroism of those who served in our armed forces."

However, the opposition parties were surprised to learn only $2.25 from each set of plates costing $77.75 will go to the Canadian Forces Personnel Assistance Fund, which provides financial help to current and former members of the military and their immediate families.

"It's misleading at best to have people making a purchase of that nature thinking it's going to help the military and their families when indeed it's helping to fill the government's coffers," said Progressive Conservative critic Bob Runciman.

An even smaller percentage of the proceeds from personalized plates with the yellow ribbons will go to the fund, only $4.50 from a $314 set.

"Certainly on the surface it sounds like an offensive gimmick," added Runciman.

"You're playing on people's affection for the military and their families and using it as a revenue source for government coffers."

The New Democrats too said they expected the province would have been a lot more generous in giving military families a slice of the sales from the new licence plates, and questioned the government's motive in making the announcement on Remembrance Day.

"When you read that it's going to go support the troops, I think you have people saying 'well, yeah, I want to do that,' but marketing off of them just looks bad," said NDP critic Peter Tabuns.

"I think most people would be as surprised as I was at how little goes to the organization that's supporting the soldiers' families."

Government Services Minister Harinder Takhar defended the new Yellow Ribbon program, and said the licence plates are about honouring the troops and raising awareness, not about fundraising.

"I don't know why the fundraising issue has taken over the recognition issue and the awareness issue that we are going to create," Takhar said in an interview.

"It's very unfortunate that a very good idea is now being criticized."

Runciman said the government had very carefully chosen Remembrance Day to announce the new "support our troops" plates, a time when Canadians' are feeling very strong emotions about the role the military plays.

"They're playing on the strong feelings surrounding Armistice Day, especially when we're engaged in war in Afghanistan and Canadians are paying much more attention to military past and present," said Runciman.

"If that's really what's happening here, most people have to be quite upset about government engaging in this kind of activity."

The Canadian Armed Forces applied to the province's graphic licence program, which was set up in 1994 to help raise awareness for various charities and organizations, he added.

If charities want to use graphic plates as a fundraising opportunity, they are allowed to set their own price for any plates they would like to resell.

Ontario already has veteran's licence plates adorned with a poppy, which are free and only available to veterans and their spouses.

"That veteran's plate is one of the most sought after plates right now," said Takhar.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadi ... xq6rVedsvg

[PublicAnimalNo9]

I really didn't expect anything more from McDipshit. But if they were going to donate a portion of the proceeds, then they should have ANNOUNCED how much was going to be donated. A few pennies from each plate isn't going to do shit for the Veterans and their families.
Once again, McDopey shows his true colours.

[DerbyX]

Yes they should have. Very disappointing. All charity like this should include a qualifier detailing exactly how much is going to charity on either a % basis or per item basis. A very stupid mistake to make.

[ridenrain]

Any private or non-profit charity would have to declare how much was sent to the cause.
This is criminal and I dearly hope they remember this, along with all the others, come the election.

[Ash1980]

DerbyX DerbyX:

Yes they should have. Very disappointing. All charity like this should include a qualifier detailing exactly how much is going to charity on either a % basis or per item basis. A very stupid mistake to make.

This was not a mistake this is The Ontario Liberals trying to catch a news bite with soft politics and make more money off the taxpayers.Problem is They once again got caught misleading the public.
What drives Me insane is the complete lack of any major opposition in this province.

[ridenrain]

I agree. What bothers me is the complete lack of news coverage on things like this. The opposition and the media should be howling over this.

[Donny_Brasco]

ridenrain ridenrain:

Any private or non-profit charity would have to declare how much was sent to the cause.
This is criminal and I dearly hope they remember this, along with all the others, come the election.

I call bullshit.

I agree with the statement that something seems amiss here, but there are many other charities that do stuff like sell chocolates and the candy gumball machines for 25 cents but do not disclose how much is going to charity.

I don't think you can single this case out as unique.

[Goober_McGee]

Donny_Brasco Donny_Brasco:

ridenrain ridenrain:

Any private or non-profit charity would have to declare how much was sent to the cause.
This is criminal and I dearly hope they remember this, along with all the others, come the election.

I call bullshit.

I agree with the statement that something seems amiss here, but there are many other charities that do stuff like sell chocolates and the candy gumball machines for 25 cents but do not disclose how much is going to charity.

I don't think you can single this case out as unique.

I think you can, because it's the government doing it.

[raydan]

Donny_Brasco Donny_Brasco:

ridenrain ridenrain:

Any private or non-profit charity would have to declare how much was sent to the cause.
This is criminal and I dearly hope they remember this, along with all the others, come the election.

I call bullshit.

I agree with the statement that something seems amiss here, but there are many other charities that do stuff like sell chocolates and the candy gumball machines for 25 cents but do not disclose how much is going to charity.

I don't think you can single this case out as unique.

All charitable organizations must produce financial statements every year, so it's quite easy to calculate.
I did the accounting of a charity for a few years.
I was not paid, of course, and couldn't even declare the value of my service as a donation.
Here is a site that publishes this information but it's American.
I'm sure that by doing a bit more research, I/you can find the same for Canada.
http://www.charitynavigator.org/

[Donny_Brasco]

I understand. How is the aboved mentioned program not adhering to the rules then? It sounds like they are donating to charity and not an actual charity.

I don't think the guys who sell gumballs are charities either, but they give a fraction of a cent for every gumball to some charity sometimes.

I just don't think that only giving a few cents on the dollar for special plates to charity is criminal. It looks like all the facts are out there. I agree it seems immoral but we don't know all the detials.

Just explain how it is criminal, are you calling them a charity or are they simply donating to charity, maybe I misunderstood that. I'm not condoning this activity I'm just calling BS on your statement.

[ridenrain]

$1:

“It's misleading at best to have people making a purchase of that nature thinking it's going to help the military and their families when indeed it's helping to fill the government's coffers,” said Progressive Conservative critic Bob Runciman.

An even smaller percentage of the proceeds from personalized plates with the yellow ribbons will go to the fund, only $4.50 from a $314 set.

“Certainly on the surface it sounds like an offensive gimmick,” Mr. Runciman added.

“You're playing on people's affection for the military and their families and using it as a revenue source for government coffers.”

If it's not technically against the law.. we'll just have to leave it up to the voter.

[OldChum]

Seems like bureaucracy strikes again