PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
THE ALLEGED ACTIONS OF THE TIM HORTONS AND STARBUCKS COMPANIES IS A BETRAYAL OF MARKET TRANSPARENCY
Red Deer region, AB - Nov 10 2015 - A CBC Marketplace investigation has recently uncovered alleged practices that are best described as false advertising. The investigation took place in Toronto, and featured investigators fixing electronic tracking devices to paper cups that were then disposed of in recycling bins belonging to these companies. It was later found that many of these cups were sent to landfills instead of processed as recyclables. If these allegations are true, it represents not only a failure of sustainability but a violation of the principle of truthfulness in advertising. It’s worth noting that Starbucks later recognized the investigation and said they initiated an internal review.
“It is essential that buyers and sellers in the marketplace are able to evaluate products and services properly, and that information provided for that purpose be reliable. That’s a basic requirement needed for a capitalist economy to function,” says Scott Milne, The Pirate Party of Canada’s Innovation, Science and Economic Development critic and a 2015 candidate in Red Deer-Mountain View. Free flow of information is needed to allow the “invisible hand” of the market to function; without it, one can’t expect the economy to remain positively competitive. Additionally, disposing of recyclables improperly raises the issue of sustainability. Why didn’t the companies involved make more of an effort to properly recycle their waste? Groups and programs are available that will do pick up for free in Toronto as well as many other areas. It’s only a minor inconvenience today and it endangers the economic development of the future if done improperly, as the recycling industry produces millions of tons of value added product and reduces the hidden cost of landfills and pollution created by waste.
The Pirate Party of Canada is a federal political party focused on thoughtful information policy reform, genuine democracy, civil liberties, and the freedom of the Internet. You can find out more online at http://www.pirateparty.ca .
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