Reviewing the leaked Flock camera map, I see there are planned cameras at the home Depot's in the city. There are also 4 active devices; two near Rosedale, and a couple active in Audi midtown Dealership.
you can see the details here: https://flocksurveillance.org/index.html ( you must VPN into the USA to view the site).
Seems like unacceptable behaviour from a corporation. Anyone know if they are still planned? as you can see the map shows them as planned as of a year ago.
I'm surprised they think an American company can afford the bad PR in Canada right now.
The only time I have set foot in a Home Despot since Trump got elected was to use their toilet.
It does suck, though, that they are the only place to buy Ryobi tools. My batteries are getting close to end of life, and I'd rather not have to replace my tools to move to a different battery ecosystem.
They're available online through multiple sources too. Some are probably a bit sketchy though.
Ryobi batteries from third parties are larger capacity, less than half the price, have a gauge built in and last longer. OEM Ryobi batteries suck.
They have a monopoly. Lowes is gone, and RONA is expensive and poorly stocked, but also US owned.
Rona is Canadian owned once again, since 2023. headquarters is now in Boucherville, Que.
They can't afford the thefts in Canada right now. I know some who works at Home Depot and people walk out with $500 tools every day. Given TPS don't actually work any more, and even if someone is caught, the fine is trivial and just encourages more theft. It's not sustainable.
So this serves no purpose then.
Exactly, the fine is up to $5000 but by the time someone is caught, they could have stolen 10x that number. Crime pays. No one goes to jail for theft in Ontario. They need lot cameras to see how they are driving away. I did some work in my house over the summer and went to HD often, I saw three thefts. People load up a trolley with tools and just walk right out, no one will try and stop them.
Similar issue with stolen motorcycles in GTA- the same guys just get charged over and over.
The solution is either: pre-pay tools and pickup only, or hire security guards.
I mean fair enough, but a flock camera isn't really going to help with that. At best it will list off every care in the parking lot at the time, and might be able to check repeat offenders. Caging inventory would be a better bet, but most likely there are staff helping with the theft.