Less than a month after the rollout of Ontario's new blue license plates began, Doug Ford's government is scrambling to replace them with a better version that can actually be seen in the dark.

Residents all over the province quickly started noticing that the plates were unreadable under the glare of headlights at night — obviously a massive problem for police, radar cameras and the public in general.

Saw two of these today (in Whitby of course, because who else would be running out to get a @fordnation plate?) - and honestly couldn’t read them in broad daylight.... and we elected these people to make actual decisions about our lives #plategate pic.twitter.com/serwuM6LcF

— LKB (@missmontrealer) February 18, 2020

The provincial government adamantly defended the new plates, then reluctantly and halfheartedly admitted there was "a problem" with them, proceeded to blame manufacturer 3M while saying the plates were still better than the old "Liberal ones" and finally decided to officially recall them yesterday amid a kerfuffle that people are now calling #PlateGate.

Another blunder! #PlateGate is showing yet again everything Ford touches turns to crap! Had my plate for years-still looks brand new! Looks like these sticker plates might be from same manufacturer as gas pump stickers-what a waste of taxpayer money but stay mad at liberals 🤣 pic.twitter.com/AmA1UEXl7O

— James Cooper 🇨🇦 (@JamesCooper_TO) February 18, 2020

Government and Consumer Services Minister Lisa Thompson told media in a statement that an "enhanced" version of the plate is "currently in development" with 3M and will be ready in about three weeks.

The hopefully-improved version will be sent via mail to the tens of thousands of drivers who currently have the defective (and ugly) blue plates. But, more than 100,000 of the problem plates will still be available at Service Ontario locations in the meantime.

Officials told the CBC that they expect 3M to cover the costs of the snafu, though the mess of the unnecessary new plates has already costed taxpayers.

Slow day at work so I took my politics to the streets. #Plategate #fraudnation #onpoli pic.twitter.com/DefWuyu2Ir

— OMG. seriously? (@omg_fereal) February 21, 2020

While the technology to fix the bungled plates is in the works, citizens are handling the issue the same way they handle everything regarding Doug Ford these days — with a laugh.

Jokes have abounded online, with some pointing out that drivers with the "Q-tip plates" may be able to get away with taking the 407 for free in the meantime.