CIVIC BIG BROTHER

Citizens beware. Big Brother of the garbage bins is coming to you.

A recent announcement, signed by the city’s Environmental & Corporate Initiatives director and delivered to each address, we are advised that civic employees will be affixing bar codes to our garbage containers.

On Page 2, an innocentlooking advisory states: “The new tags and bar codes will help you avoid missed collections and fines.” The “fines” aren’t explained. However, there’s a phone number provided in case homeowners have questions.

I called that number. The person who answered anticipated my question, undoubtedly having received numerous inquiries regarding the mysterious “fines.” That person had no idea about what the fines were and told me to ask the people who wrote the brochure. When I called the number provided, I got a recording that said I should call the original number listed in the announcement if I had any questions regarding garbage pickup services.

Frustrated at the runaround, I called my councillor, who also didn’t have an answer regarding the fines.

It’s fairly clear, from what little information I have been able to glean, that the bar codes will not help us “avoid” fines. Rather, they will enable the city more efficiently to apply whatever fines it deems suitable to concoct. It also makes one wonder what the future holds — perhaps using the bar codes to document the weight of our garbage, so that we can be charged extra for a service now provided through property taxes.

I can hardly wait for the next exciting surveillance development for our increasingly monitored and inspected lives. David Klatt Saskatoon