Research lab can't explain defective licence plates
By Shawn Jeffords, Toronto Sun
First posted: Saturday, March 12, 2016 03:19 PM EST | Updated: Saturday, March 12, 2016 03:44 PM EST
A federal research lab can’t say why tens of thousands of Ontario licence plates bubble and peel each year.
The Toronto Sun has learned that after a wave of bad publicity last summer, two Ontario ministries agreed to send the defective plates to the National Research Institute, a federal government-run laboratory. But those tests, conducted over an 8-week period last summer, yielded no conclusive findings, said Ministry of Government and Consumer Services spokesman Anne-Marie Flanagan.
“The report did note the potential factors like climate might affect the plates,” she said. “The report also included a few recommendations including a suggestion to investigate that the correct pressure is being used in the embossing process.”
The testing cost the province $16,000. The company which manufactures the reflective sheeting that covers each aluminium plate has made changes to its process which might have an impact, the Ministry confirmed.
“We’re monitoring the situation to see if these changes improve the plate quality,” Flanagan said, adding the government will continue to investigate.
According to documents obtained by the Toronto Sun through a Freedom of Information request, both the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services and the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services have been struggling to get to the bottom of the issue since the first public complaints in 2012. The defect is believed to have started to appear in late 2007 or early 2008, according to government reports.
It’s estimated to impact 1% to 2% of the 1.3 million plates produced, or approximately 28,000 people, each year. Trilcor Industries, a branch of the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, makes the plates. It operates out of the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay.
Motorcycle, farm and off-road plates appear to not have been affected by the defect.
The plates had been guaranteed for five years. Drivers with plates older than five years experiencing the defect are required to pay $29 for replacements.
The reports show the government debated extending the warranty, accepting plates which date beyond the five year period but ultimately rejected the idea. The reports point to fears that doing so would create a plate shortage across Ontario.
“Given the constraints with the licence plate supply, the current strategy does not change,” a report from July 21, 2015 says.
The reports show that Trilcor asked suppliers of both the aluminum and the reflective sheeting to test their products for the defect. Neither uncovered the cause, the documents say.
The reports also keep a keen eye on media coverage of the issue. Over the course of 2014, each report notes how many media requests on the issue have come in. After the stories in June 2015, the government decides to employ a “low-key, reactive communications approach” to “connect with media that proactively reached out to use to provide them with an update.”
*****
A high-ranking bureaucrat appears to have pumped the brakes on government efforts to get the bottom of Ontario’s defective licence plate problem last spring.
In a briefing note obtained by the Toronto Sun through a Freedom of Information request, the official within the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services objects to an independent third-party test to determine why thousands of the plates have bubbled and peeled since late 2007. It’s not clear why.
A May 2015 report says the “deputy” was “not supportive of the study and it was no longer considered a viable next step.”
“(ServiceOntario) is unaware of (the Ministry of Correctional Services and Community Safety’s) next steps to further investigations to arrive at a true root cause,” the report stated.
The report then goes on to say that 31,995 defective plates were replaced at no charge to drivers between January 2014 and January 2015. But a few weeks later the third-party study moves ahead.
“While no start date for the project has been confirmed as yet, the duration of the study will be 8 weeks,” a note written in June 2015 says.
Asked by the Sun about why the official appears to have had reservations about the testing, Ministry of Government and Consumer Services spokesman Anne-Marie Flanagan said she could not say.
“Ultimately, the comment in that briefing note was a third or fourth hand comment and wasn’t heard directly,” she said of the note prepared by ServiceOntario staff. “It really shouldn’t have been in the briefing note.”
*****
Ontario’s defective licence plates by the numbers:
1% - Percentage of the 1.3 million plates impacted by the defect every year.
5 - Year warranty on the plates.
2007 - Year that government believes problem started.
28,000 - Number of people impacted by the defect each year according to government estimates.
70,600 - Approximate number of plates returned under warranty to ServiceOntario since Jan. 2014.
Ontario drivers with plates older than five years are being forced to pay to replace defective plates. (Tim Peckham/Toronto Sun illustration)
Research lab can't explain defective licence plates | Ontario | News | Toronto S
By Shawn Jeffords, Toronto Sun
First posted: Saturday, March 12, 2016 03:19 PM EST | Updated: Saturday, March 12, 2016 03:44 PM EST
A federal research lab can’t say why tens of thousands of Ontario licence plates bubble and peel each year.
The Toronto Sun has learned that after a wave of bad publicity last summer, two Ontario ministries agreed to send the defective plates to the National Research Institute, a federal government-run laboratory. But those tests, conducted over an 8-week period last summer, yielded no conclusive findings, said Ministry of Government and Consumer Services spokesman Anne-Marie Flanagan.
“The report did note the potential factors like climate might affect the plates,” she said. “The report also included a few recommendations including a suggestion to investigate that the correct pressure is being used in the embossing process.”
The testing cost the province $16,000. The company which manufactures the reflective sheeting that covers each aluminium plate has made changes to its process which might have an impact, the Ministry confirmed.
“We’re monitoring the situation to see if these changes improve the plate quality,” Flanagan said, adding the government will continue to investigate.
According to documents obtained by the Toronto Sun through a Freedom of Information request, both the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services and the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services have been struggling to get to the bottom of the issue since the first public complaints in 2012. The defect is believed to have started to appear in late 2007 or early 2008, according to government reports.
It’s estimated to impact 1% to 2% of the 1.3 million plates produced, or approximately 28,000 people, each year. Trilcor Industries, a branch of the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, makes the plates. It operates out of the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay.
Motorcycle, farm and off-road plates appear to not have been affected by the defect.
The plates had been guaranteed for five years. Drivers with plates older than five years experiencing the defect are required to pay $29 for replacements.
The reports show the government debated extending the warranty, accepting plates which date beyond the five year period but ultimately rejected the idea. The reports point to fears that doing so would create a plate shortage across Ontario.
“Given the constraints with the licence plate supply, the current strategy does not change,” a report from July 21, 2015 says.
The reports show that Trilcor asked suppliers of both the aluminum and the reflective sheeting to test their products for the defect. Neither uncovered the cause, the documents say.
The reports also keep a keen eye on media coverage of the issue. Over the course of 2014, each report notes how many media requests on the issue have come in. After the stories in June 2015, the government decides to employ a “low-key, reactive communications approach” to “connect with media that proactively reached out to use to provide them with an update.”
*****
A high-ranking bureaucrat appears to have pumped the brakes on government efforts to get the bottom of Ontario’s defective licence plate problem last spring.
In a briefing note obtained by the Toronto Sun through a Freedom of Information request, the official within the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services objects to an independent third-party test to determine why thousands of the plates have bubbled and peeled since late 2007. It’s not clear why.
A May 2015 report says the “deputy” was “not supportive of the study and it was no longer considered a viable next step.”
“(ServiceOntario) is unaware of (the Ministry of Correctional Services and Community Safety’s) next steps to further investigations to arrive at a true root cause,” the report stated.
The report then goes on to say that 31,995 defective plates were replaced at no charge to drivers between January 2014 and January 2015. But a few weeks later the third-party study moves ahead.
“While no start date for the project has been confirmed as yet, the duration of the study will be 8 weeks,” a note written in June 2015 says.
Asked by the Sun about why the official appears to have had reservations about the testing, Ministry of Government and Consumer Services spokesman Anne-Marie Flanagan said she could not say.
“Ultimately, the comment in that briefing note was a third or fourth hand comment and wasn’t heard directly,” she said of the note prepared by ServiceOntario staff. “It really shouldn’t have been in the briefing note.”
*****
Ontario’s defective licence plates by the numbers:
1% - Percentage of the 1.3 million plates impacted by the defect every year.
5 - Year warranty on the plates.
2007 - Year that government believes problem started.
28,000 - Number of people impacted by the defect each year according to government estimates.
70,600 - Approximate number of plates returned under warranty to ServiceOntario since Jan. 2014.
Ontario drivers with plates older than five years are being forced to pay to replace defective plates. (Tim Peckham/Toronto Sun illustration)
Research lab can't explain defective licence plates | Ontario | News | Toronto S