Publisac advocates decry bylaw proposal
Restricting the Publisac and the newspapers that come with it represents an attack on the freedom of the press, local publishers said Monday.
The publishers joined Publisac publisher TC Transcontinental in a news conference to urge the city to reject recommendations that its committee on the environment and sustainable development made last week.
The committee has urged council to adopt a bylaw that would restrict the mass distribution of flyers and promotional material only to those households that opt to receive them. Currently, brochures and newspapers are distributed to about 800,000 Montreal homes, while 250,000 have posted stickers on their mailboxes asking not to receive the material.
Beryl Wajsman, the editor in chief of The Suburban, said lumping all newspapers in with the Publisac is a dangerous attack because it limits where they can deliver.
“These guys are trying to control who gets to see what,” Wajsman said. “The recommendation is for all newspapers to be put in stacks in public buildings. The fact that a committee of a democratic government can even think of telling newspapers where to distribute (is appalling).”
The recommendations were also criticized by Andrew Mulé, the vice-president and general manager of Métro Média, which owns and publishes about 25 local newspapers including the daily Métro, distributed at most métro stations. He said about 10 of his publications would probably have to close if they could not be distributed through the Publisac.
TC Transcontinental president François Olivier said the Publisac is read by 87 per cent of Quebecers every week, and the other 13 per cent consult it online, so it’s a service people need in order to save money on their groceries and other purchases.
Olivier defended his company’s role in promoting local journalism even though TC Transcontinental slashed dozens of journalists’ jobs in recent years and closed numerous local newspapers including the West Island Chronicle and Westmount Examiner. TC Transcontinental now prints and distributes nearly all the weekly newspapers in Quebec, which is more than 100 publications. The company also prints the Montreal Gazette.
“Like every other media, when we were publishers, we tried to adjust our costs to the revenue coming in,” Olivier said. “We decided to sell all of our weeklies a couple of years ago because we felt the industry needed a very local strategy, and it seems to be working. Now, all of the publishers of these weeklies are calling me and saying, ‘do something, because if you don’t print me and distribute me at the cost you’re doing it right now, that’s the end of my business.’ ”