After what has been one of the more laughable screwups in provincial politics as of late — which is saying a lot — Premier Doug Ford has officially given up on the now-famous blue license plates his government started rolling out a few weeks ago.

Forget about the new plates! Stick with the old white ones!!
Why in the world did we need new plates if you are so worried about budget deficits? Ontario" ONTARIO YOURS TO DISCOVER.'

— Florence Rita (@grandma_talks) March 7, 2020

At first compared to Q-Tip boxes, the plates have proven to have a much bigger problem: their glare makes them essentially unreadable in the dark, including by photo radar, 407 ETR cameras and border cameras.

Thus started #PlateGate, with residents sharing photos of the defective plates on social media as the government scrambled to fix the issue (but not before defending the new design, blaming manufacturer 3M and insisting the plates were still better than the old "Liberal ones").

Q. What's the difference between a Conservative licence plate, and a Q-tip box?
A. You can still read the Q-tip box when a light shines on it!#PlateGate pic.twitter.com/whwnJK09ql

— Jamie West (@jamiewestndp) March 9, 2020

Ford's team finally recalled the products at the end of February, promising to re-issue a newer, better version of the blue plates many had already come to hate.

By that point, nearly 100,000 of the faulty plates had already been distributed to drivers, and ServiceOntario centres were stocked up with even more of them.

But apparently the re-design has been too hard to get right, as Ford has now reluctantly decided to go back to the old white-with-blue-characters design that Ontario plates have had since the '70s, the Star reports.

Acts of this Gov't on the #taxpayer dole has made every attempt to incorporate a privy existence at our expense. Wasted monies, time & efforts that should have been directed to priorities other than painting the "town" BLUE! #onpoli #votefordout2020 @tylerwhat16 #poverty #housing

— cheyamuir@gmail.com (@cheyamuir) March 7, 2020

The NEW new plates will be flat, without the raised lettering we're used to — which some found prone to peeling after years of wear and tear — and will keep Ford's blue plate slogan, "A Place To Grow," just on a white background.

Ford has promised that the whole snafu will somehow be at zero expense to taxpayers, though many are frustrated that he wasted money completely and somewhat needlessly overhauling our license plates to Conservative blue in the first place.

Drivers who currently have the new blue plates will receive instructions via mail on how to get their new white plates while the province's stock of blue plates will be recycled. In the meantime, the classic version of the Ontario license plate (complete with the old "Yours To Discover" slogan) will be issued.