It is apparently not illegal in Ontario to put these very, very dark plastic covers over your plates either, making them so dark that they're barely legible unless you have your nose on that car. Including the (now) old design.

Really, all you can see is a dark, smoked, grey rectangle where the plate is. I'm amazed this is legal.

It is illegal in Ontario. From the Ontario Highway Traffic Act:

Number plates, further violations No other numbers to be exposed 13 (1) No number other than that upon the number plate furnished by the Ministry shall be exposed on any part of a motor vehicle or trailer in such a position or manner as to confuse the identity of the number plate. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 13 (1).

Number plate to be kept clean (2) Every number plate shall be kept free from dirt and obstruction and shall be affixed so that the entire number plate, including the numbers, is plainly visible at all times, and the view of the number plate shall not be obscured or obstructed by spare tires, bumper bars, any part of the vehicle, any attachments to the vehicle or the load carried. 1994, c. 27, s. 138 (7).

Obstruction prohibited (3) The number plates shall not be obstructed by any device that prevents the entire number plates including the numbers from being accurately photographed using an automated speed enforcement system. 2017, c. 9, s. 3.

Same (3.0.1) The number plates shall not be obstructed by any device that prevents the entire number plates including the numbers from being accurately photographed using a red light camera system. 1998, c. 38, s. 2 (1).

Same (3.1) The number plates shall not be obstructed by any device or material that prevents the entire number plates including the numbers from being identified by an electronic toll system. 1996, c. 1, Sched. E, s. 2 (1).

Offence (4) Every person who contravenes subsection (2), (3), (3.0.1) or (3.1) is guilty of an offence. 1993, c. 31, s. 2 (5); 1996, c. 1, Sched. E, s. 2 (2); 1998, c. 38, s. 2 (2).

Right. You wouldn’t be able to tell by just walking around though. Every third cars has one of these plate darkener screens. And many cars also have windows so tinted you can’t even tell if it’s a man or a woman driving.

Yep, add a layer of salt in winter and the plates are often completely, 100% not readable even if you're standing 2 feet from them in broad daylight, leaning over to try to discern the characters.

It's not legal. Your plates have to be legible. But much like many other portions of the Traffic Act, it's unenforced, so it's not really a "law" per se, more like a suggestion.

There isn't some sort of generic law that says "license plates must be clearly visible"?

There probably is, but the police has better things to do than enforce traffic laws in Toronto (Ontario?) apparently.

Really, the joke goes that if you want to kill someone in Ontario then do it while driving your car. It's even better if your victim is on a bike. Then you get a 500$ fine and back at the wheel. "Woops, didn't see them" is a valid defense, no matter the circumstances.

Here's a local example from Waterloo Region— Feb 2017, cyclist killed by motorist exiting the highway:

https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/cyclist-dies-after-being-hit-fr...

A year later, all charges dropped on account of an apparently burned out streetlamp. The lawyer called it "happenchance":

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/8354441-charges-dropped...

I'm surprised the city of kitchener did not get sued for the lack of maintenance on the streetlamp.

That assumes that any of this was really about the streetlamp though. Note that the person riding a bicycle was also guilty of the crime of "wearing dark clothing".

My bother in-law got a pretty nasty ticket for one of those. The officer made him remove it on the side of the road before driving off.

By "remove it", I mean "smash the plastic face" since there were no tools handy.

Looks like he encountered the one officer assigned to enforcing the HTA in the whole of the province.

They are illegal, but that doesn't stop ServiceOntario franchises from selling them with a little sign saying (paraphrasing), "you're liable".

It’s a beautiful system isn’t it?

Georgia (the state) had to re-vote on a couple of their new license plate designs because one plate had "In God We Trust" on it, and the other plate didn't. I believe the ACLU (or who ever brought up the problem) was worried that people would think that only the one plate would be available with the "In God We Trust" sticker

When the Department of Revenue published the proposed designs, some of them contained the phrase "In God We Trust," while others didn't. It wasn't made clear that the phrase "In God We Trust" wasn't part of any of the designs; it's just an optional sticker that goes where the county name (also a sticker) is usually found on the plate. The miscommunication upset just about everyone because the vote (which was just an online poll, not an official vote) to select a new design effectively became a referendum on whether the state's license plate should contain the phrase "In God We Trust." The Department of Revenue decided to republish the proposed designs without the sticker so that the public could vote again.