Councillor hopes to end city’s reliance on newspaper ads

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This article was published 23/02/2022 (1367 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A city councillor wants to end a legally mandated city method of alerting residents about development hearings.

Coun. Shawn Nason’s motion would likely increase traffic to the city’s website, but some fear it would make residents less likely to find out about projects that affect their neighbourhoods.

Nason (Transcona) would like to eliminate the city’s requirement to buy newspaper ad space informing residents about the hearings, a rule included in Winnipeg’s provincially controlled charter.

“It’s about modernization. We’ve eliminated a lot of opportunities for access to information, for access to people. It’s centralized through 311 or Winnipeg.ca (the city’s website). That’s where we push the majority of our interactions with the residents,” said Nason. “The City of Winnipeg (website) is the gold standard of where to look.”

If council gives final approval to the motion, the city would ask the Manitoba government to amend the charter to allow the change.

Nason said all residents can access the city’s website quickly without paying a fee, making it a very accessible option. He said those who don’t have a personal computer could get free access to one at a municipal library.

However, others fear the change threatens to reduce public awareness of important city projects.

“It’s basically taking away one method of informing people and not replacing it with anything else,” said Bob Cox, publisher of the Winnipeg Free Press.

Newspapers can reach a wide swath of readers, who may not otherwise find the same information within the massive amount of digital data the city shares online, Cox said, adding the city is obligated to keep residents as informed as possible and needs to advertise to achieve that goal.

“The point of advertising is to make (an announcement) widely known to people,” he said.

Since daily newspapers reach two-thirds of the local population, Cox said they remain a “very effective way” of alerting the public to new developments.

Coun. Brian Mayes said some Winnipeggers rely heavily on newspapers as a key information source, so it makes sense for the city to continue sharing information within those publications.

“I wouldn’t mind adding (more information) online … but people often complain they don’t know about (development hearings), so I don’t mind leaving them in the newspaper as well,” said Mayes.

The St. Vital councillor noted some Winnipeggers don’t have home computers. If the city relied solely on its own website to share important information, that could create a barrier for those residents, he said.

Nason’s motion will be considered by the East Kildonan-Transcona Community Committee Friday.

The Manitoba government updated its notification legislation last year. In an email, a spokesperson confirmed the latest rules require the city to publish public hearing notices in either the print or online editions of newspapers.

Joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga