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w at er lo oc hr on ic le .c a W at er lo o C hr on ic le | T hu rs da y, A ug us t 1, 20 19 | 10 ABOUT US This newspaper, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised of more than 80 community publications across Ontario. This newspaper is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the news- paper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca editorial@waterloochronicle.ca facebook.com/waterloochronicle @wlchronicle WHO WE ARE VP, Regional Publisher Kelly Montague Regional General Manager Nelson Parreira nparreira@metroland.com Regional Director of Media Heather Dunbar hdunbar@starmetrolandmedia.com Sales Lead/Advertising Representative Michelle Stevens ext. 795062 Advertising Representatives Cassandra Dellow ext. 795066 Jan Bodanka ext. 795072 Delia Medina ext. 795065 Regional Editor Mike Wilson Reporters Adam Jackson Bill Jackson Namish Modi CONTACT US Waterloo Chronicle 475 Thompson Dr. Cambridge, ON N1T 2K8 Phone: 519-886-2830 Fax: 519-623-9155 Web: www.waterloochronicle.ca Letters to the editor All letters must be fewer than 200 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters. Delivery For all delivery inquiries, e-mail customerservice@metroland.com or call 519-894-3000 OPINION TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT WATERLOOCHRONICLE.CA EDITORIAL LETTERS & COMMENTARY "In a lot of ways," Mark Zuckerberg has famously said, "Facebook is more like a government than a tradi- tional company." Much the same could be said of the other tech giants that set the rules for so much of our lives - especially Google, Amazon and Apple. Real governments struggle to tame the beast in areas ranging from privacy and democracy to taxation and corporate clout. Facebook even has plans to launch its own cryptocurrency, called Libra. Finally, though, there are signs governments are stirring themselves to meet the challenge. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission slapped Facebook with a record fine of $5 billion last week for misleading its users about the privacy of their personal information. In addition, the FTC ordered the company to set up a new board-level committee on priva- cy and make its data practices more transparent. For Facebook, even a fine of that size is just the cost of doing business. It earned more than that in the last quarter alone and its stocked jumped 56 per cent last year while it weathered a storm of criticism. The bigger potential challenge to Facebook and the rest comes from U.S. government-launched investiga- tions into how they have amassed so much market pow- er and whether they've violated antitrust laws. This is a big change. So far the tech companies have faced their biggest push-back in Europe while Washing- ton tended to defend them as champions of innovation. And it isn't just about privacy, "fake news" and simi- lar well-publicized concerns about social media and the health of democracy. The real stakes for the dominant tech companies lie in a challenge to the enormous mar- ket power they have accumulated in just a few years. An antitrust review could put into question that pow- er and breaking up some of the biggest companies would be a real possibility - especially if a Democrat wins the White House next year. With all that, you might expect a lively debate among Canada's political parties on how to meet the tech chal- lenge, though, you'd be disappointed. Canada's privacy commissioner was left to sputter impotently when he rebuked the company for violating the privacy of 620,000 Canadian users and it brushed him off. It turns out he has no power to tell Facebook to do anything. Even if he takes the company to court and wins, the maximum fine would be a risible $100,000. As for the future, the best the Liberals can offer is the tepid "digital charter" that Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains unveiled in May. It points in the right direction on privacy and other issues, but there's no reason the gov- ernment could not have moved faster in those areas. The trend across the developed world clearly favours reining in Big Tech, and Canada should be more than a bystander. The coming election campaign will be an ideal time for the federal parties to spell out how they would meet that challenge. CANADA DESERVES A PROPER DEBATE ON REINING IN BIG TECH MUNICIPAL TENDERING CHANGE IS A GOOD START, BUT MORE CAN BE DONE Changes to tendering pro- cess welcomed by region - Ju- ly 13 The new amendment to the Ontario Labour Rela- tions Act that allows open and fair tendering, means municipalities can chose the best deal for construction projects. The Ontario gov- ernment was wise enough to make this change so that the municipalities can chose the best deal for the taxpayer's money. The question is, is the government wise enough to change the rules that will entitle all the people of this country the ability to get a best deal for their hard- earned money? If families and business are to get the most for the buying power of their in- come, no one should be al- lowed to control the supply of any legal goods or service. The employer should be al- lowed to have a financial choice of the existing union, a competitive union or indi- vidual workers as a work- force after a contract expires. The employer should be al- lowed to change manage- ment or employees for a fi- nancial reason without pen- alty. If we are to reduce the ar- tificial price spread that cre- ates financial hardship for families and business, the buyer has to be entitled to a chance to get as much as pos- sible for the money that rep- resents his or her work. LARRY BIESINGER LISTOWEL ION IS WUNDERBAR Ion bumps Grand River Transit ridership - July 13 I live in Dundas and am a big railway fan and love streetcars, too. I have 'tested' your wonderful system twice now and want to let people know it is absolutely "wun- derbar" in every way. The stations are well designed and wheelchair accessible, and the trains run smoothly and quietly, connecting the important places in Kitche- ner and Waterloo, like shop- ping malls, the universities, the downtowns, Grand River Hospital and the VIA train station. I am originally from Aus- tria and Germany and use trains and the very modern streetcars all the time when I am in Europe. I tell every- body I see or meet about your system. RAYMOND BRAUN DUNDAS, ONT. NEIGHBOURHOOD CHALLENGE I live in Cambridge and have been picking up gar- bage around my neighbour- hood for about three years. I don't mind doing it. I am a member of the Green party and this what we stand for, cleaning up the planet. I would like to make a challenge to every neigh- bourhood in the Kitchener- Waterloo area. If one person from each neighbourhood could walk outside and pick up the garbage along the side of the road, as well as on the grassy knoll beside the road, imagine how clean the city would be. It just would take one person from the approxi- mately 14 houses that make up any given block five min- utes, once a week. It could be a teenager who is green con- scious or an adult who is not working or even someone who does work. Who doesn't have five minutes a week? LAWRENCE NOLAN CAMBRIDGE