As if runaway inflation isn’t bad enough these days, do you get perturbed – as we do – when one ventures into a store and gets asked by the cashier to make a charitable donation?
We have nothing against charitable causes. But for us – and we suspect for so many others – this is a personal decision. Which is to say, most people like to choose which charity they want to support.
Besides, it really irks us that when a retailer collects all of those individual loonies and toonies and fivers and so on, it is the corporation that receives the charitable tax deduction – not the individual consumers who made those donations.
LCBO strike is a good reminder: get government out of alcohol sales!
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) July 10, 2024
'Could the strike by the 9,000 employees at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario be the most stupid strike in the history of strikes? Sure looks that way to me,' says David Menzies.
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Be that as it may, can we at least have some transparency when it comes to stores soliciting for charities?
Such was definitely NOT the case during the month of June at Liquor Control Board of Ontario stores.
Whenever we went into these provincially-owned and operated booze boutiques we would be asked to make a charitable donation. And when we had the temerity to ask where our precious dough was destined to go, we were invariably told “AIDS charities.”
During this period, a viewer reached out and told us when he asked where his money was going a clerk working at a Markham LCBO store informed him – on more than one occasion – that the funds collected were going to Women’s College Hospital. That’s completely false.
But as for the AIDS charities answer we were frequently given, was this entirely true?
You see, the LCBO’s charitable causes in June consisted of the following: Casey House, Rainbow Railroad The 519, CANFAR and Egale Canada.
And just who’s who in the LGBT zoo you ask?
Well, some of these charities indeed do AIDS work. CANFAR, for example, is a national, independent organization advancing HIV knowledge and science. Casey House, meanwhile, is a specialty hospital in Toronto that cares for people living with and at risk of HIV.
OK. Fair enough. But what about those other organizations?
The 519 is self-described as a queer drop-in centre. And its prime directive is definitely NOT AIDS research. Rather, The 519 is an advocacy group fighting for, in its own words, “acceptance and affirmation.”
“Acceptance” is one thing. As for “affirmation”? Not on our dime.
Then there’s the Rainbow Railroad. This is a global not-for-profit organization that helps at-risk LGBT-etc. people get to safety worldwide. Again, the Rainbow Railroad has about as much to do with AIDS research as the Polar Express.
By the way, if you are trying to get into Canada as a refugee, simply claim you’re a member of the spirit unicorn community and thanks to the likes of the Rainbow Railroad your case will be expediated with such alacrity it will put a bullet train to shame.
Rebel News journalist David Menzies (@TheMenzoid) questions why the Ontario government continues to interfere with the sale of alcohol in light of the huge LCBO strike.
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) July 19, 2024
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But surely the most egregious recipient of LCBO money is Egale Canada. Egale stands for Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere. But it really functions as a hardcore advocacy group for the Rainbow Mafia set, obsessed with pride flags and pronouns and radical transgenderism. And Egale adores censorship. Last year, for example, Egale pressured the CRTC to get Fox News removed from Canadian airwaves. Yeah, Fox News.
We reached out to the LCBO regarding its deceptive solicitation practices. Here’s the answer -well, the non-answer – we received:
“Thank you for your inquiry related to our Love Pairs with Everything fundraising campaign that took place from June 11 to June 30, 2024. This year, LCBO welcomed two new charitable partners: Egale Canada and CANFAR, along with returning partners from Casey House, Rainbow Railroad and The 519. Women’s College Hospital Foundation was not part of the 2024 Love Pairs with Everything fundraising campaign. To ensure campaign preparedness, LCBO retail store employees were provided details about our charitable partners and the causes each support. To further help with customer awareness, our charitable partners were visible in-store at the point of sale, along with information on lcbo.com and social media channels.
“Funds raised and the impact we are making to serve the needs of Ontario’s diverse communities will be announced on LCBO’s official social media channels in the coming weeks.
“We thank customers across the province for their support and any donations made to the campaign alongside their in-store purchase.”
Missing in the explanation is why AIDS research was the go-to answer when consumers asked where their donations were destined.
And by the way, the LCBO would not answer how much money it raised last June. Why would that be? It’s a Crown corporation beholden to all taxpayers, after all.
But in the final analysis, it’s bad enough the government-owned LCBO still clings onto a liquor monopoly. But it’s beyond egregious that Ontarians must endure a shakedown by cashiers given that so many Ontarians are shopping at LCBO stores not by choice but by necessity.
And the cherry on this sordid sundae is that so many LCBO employees were apparently instructed in their pitches for consumer donations that radical Rainbow Mafia advocacy groups were actually medical organizations conducting AIDS research? Are you kidding us? Doesn’t this fall under the bailiwick of deceptive marketing practices?
