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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, S ep te m be r 12 ,2 01 9 | 4 coupon We are Diesel Vehicle Specialists! Fleet Maintenance/ Programs Available JuSt ASk! Best Pricing on All Products 20 Armstrong Avenue, Georgetown ✃ ✃ Certified Mechanics on Duty 905-877-1237 TIRES! All Sizes All Brands Silver 2018 Halton Hills Auto, Truck & Trailer Service and Certification We have Anco All Season Wiper Blades! only $7.49/ea installed. TIRES! Most Vehicles + TAX Most Vehicl $3995 only • Oil & Filter Change • Antifreeze Check • Lubrication • 52 point inspection • Battery & Wiper Blade Check • FREE FLUID TOP UPS Special!* MAinTenAnce * Up to 6 Ltr. Limited time offer • Upgrade to synthetic from $15 extra. DEKA BATTERIES • HIGH QUALITY • LOW COST All Sizes Available ~ Auto & Commercial Car & Truck, ATV, RV, Motorcycles, Snowmobiles & More! Car & T RV ing a digital marketplace with behemoths like Google and Facebook. This duopoly, according to News Media Canada pres- ident and chief executive of- ficer John Hinds, has made it extremely challenging for local news providers to com- pete on a number of fronts. We're up against big firms with vast amounts of data and savvy algorithms, and competing for digital ad dol- lars. "When you've got 70 to 80 per cent of the digital ads be- ing sold by two players, and they are not Canadian play- ers, that's a real problem," said Hinds. "We need to be in a position where we can con- tinue to have viable busi- ness models that will allow us to provide news and in- formation to our citizens." It's no secret the newspa- per industry has taken a sig- nificant financial hit. Newsrooms, here and across the globe, have been impacted. Reports suggest more than 100 local news outlets have been shuttered in Ontario since 2008, leav- ing some citizens to live in news-poor areas. Service re- ductions at other media companies mean fewer boots on the ground to re- port on important issues af- fecting your community. Reduced advertising has a direct influence on the type of journalism a news media business is able to produce. It's one of the many risks identified in a July re- port by Australia's Competi- tion and Consumer Com- mission, which carried out an inquiry focused on the impacts of digital platforms such as search engines, so- cial media and digital con- tent aggregators have on consumers and businesses, including news media busi- nesses. The commission made 23 recommendations that called for regulatory and legislative changes, the creation of codes of conduct, as well as further inquiries to examine specific tech ser- vices. This type of thorough ex- amination of the digital mar- ketplace and its challenges is desperately needed here to ensure businesses are competing on a level playing field. Canada might be late to the game -- the European Union and United States have each launched anti- trust investigations on "market-leading online plat- forms" -- but better late than never. We welcome your ques- tions and value your com- ments. Email our trust committee at trust@met- roland.com. Catherine O'Hara is Regional Managing Editor for Torstar Corporation's Community Brands in Halton, Hamilton, Peel and Niagara. OPINION Continued from page 1 NEWSROOMS ACROSS GLOBE IMPACTED Several students have been selected as this year's recipients of scholarships in honour of two local young people who died in a kayaking accident. The scholarships from the Zach Sutherland and Kaya Firth Resiliency Foundation were recently bestowed on four students during a reception at Eagle Ridge Golf Course. The pupils - Meghan Ogram, Ross Kelleher, Da- na Mitchell and Maddison Deverell - each received $2,500. The scholarship was founded by the Sutherland and Firth families to recog- nize and support resiliency in youth who have faced significant loss in their lives. The initiative is sup- ported by various fundrais- ing events, including the annual Golfing for Resil- ience tournament and eve- nings with spiritual medi- ums. Zach Sutherland and Kaya Firth, both 21-year- old University of Guelph students, lost their lives in February 2016 during a kayaking trip on the Credit River. For more informa- tion on the scholarship, and to read the recipients' stories, visit choose2bere- silient.com. COMMUNITY FOUNDATION GIVES SCHOLARSHIPS TO YOUTH COPING WITH LOSS MELANIE HENNESSEY mhennessey@ metroland.com SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT THEIFP.CA