There is an aphorism that says the ‘Road to Hell is paved with good intentions.’
And while the Town of Barrhead’s proposed Advertising Bylaw (Bylaw 11-2018), which if passed would allow the town to advertise notices, like public hearings electronically, might not create a road to the netherworld, it has the very real possibility of harming a local business, namely us, the Barrhead Leader.
Under the Municipal Government Act (MGA) under section 606.1, states municipalities must advertise items of public importance in the local paper or other publication at least once a week in a minimum of one newspaper, or other publication circulating in the area, or by mailing the notice to every residence in the area for a minimum of two weeks.
The section also gives municipalities the option, via bylaw, to advertise by other means — in this case electronically via their website and/or social media. The reason for council precipitating this change is because they do not want a repeat of where the town had to delay a public hearing because they inadvertently didn’t place one of the advertisements.
Director of development and legislative services Cheryl Callihoo and mayor Dave McKenzie said the bylaw isn’t meant to replace print advertising, but is an addition, which would be used only if they once again inadvertently missed a print advertisement, but that isn’t how they bylaw is worded.
As we read it, the bylaw would give the town to the ability to pick and choose which advertising medium they use, which of course is very concerning to us.
Community newspapers are a public service and the Barrhead Leader’s editorial staff does its utmost to inform and tell the stories of our residents to the community at large, the truth of the matter is that we cannot do what we do, without advertising revenue.
This bylaw also could impact the way our reporters do their jobs. One of the purposes of the Fifth Estate is to hold our community leaders accountable.
As it reads now, the town could potentially use the bylaw as a punitive measure against us if we were to print a story that they believed painted them in an unfavourable light.
In addition, we just don’t know how effective posting something via the web would be in this market. The MGA gives municipalities the option of posting notices via the web as long as ‘council is confident the method will substantially attract the attention of area residents’.
We are not sure that it would. One just has to remember the backlash from area residents had when Service Alberta announced they would no longer send out reminders through regular mail for vehicle registrations, driver’s licence and provincial identification card renewals?
So we ask councillors to consider scrapping Bylaw 11-2018 or rewording it so that it ensures print advertising for public notices continues.
