INNISFAIL – Despite strong opposition during a public hearing, town council has approved a new bylaw that will see the town move more towards digital advertising for legal notices, and less for the local newspaper.
The public hearing at town hall on Aug. 10 into the proposed Public Notification Bylaw, which was designed by the town to use alternate forms of advertising – namely digital, heard repeated assurances from the town staff and councilors that it values the local newspaper, The Albertan, and will continue to rely on it, albeit in a new secondary role.
The public hearing was told the town would save, and the newspaper lose, about $3,700 per annum in advertising expenses and revenues with the new bylaw.
But the hearing also heard passionate pleas from citizens not to tamper with the status quo, that the newspaper was critically important for the town’s older citizens, which reportedly represents up to 40 per cent of the population, with the same percentage unable to access town information on the internet.
“Make sure the population of this town is informed about what you are doing. That is what it is all about,” said local resident Chuck Blanchard, who opposed the town’s initiative.
After a trio of public presentations, followed by discussion, town council unanimously passed second and third readings of the bylaw.
Council also passed a second motion by Coun. Glen Carritt to have the new bylaw reviewed in three months.
Murray Elliott, the publisher of The Albertan and vice-president of the newspaper’s parent company Great West Newspapers, said despite the passage of the law it was “refreshing” to hear Innisfail council and administration value The Albertan and will continue to support the newspaper.
Elliott said he was also “pleasantly surprised” by the support of concerned citizens who spoke out against the town’s new bylaw.
“I, too, am concerned Innisfailians who lack computer access or basic computer skills will be left in the dark if a public notice isn’t printed in its entirety in the newspaper,” said Elliott.
On July 18, the town introduced the new bylaw, which was inspired by updated changes to the provincial Municipal Government Act (MGA) to allow alternate forms of advertising. The changes, passed into law in 2017, allow municipalities to use other means of notification, including their websites, if they hold a public hearing and pass an advertising bylaw.
The Alberta Weekly Newspaper Association (AWNA), a not-for-profit trade association representing more than 100 newspapers across the province and the Northwest Territories, immediately viewed this government initiative as another threat to the beleaguered newspaper industry, and is still continuing its objections, particularly this year with the colossal pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year, with municipal budgets pressed hard due to COVID, several communities across the province have relied on the MGA updates to make changes to the way they advertise.
However, Innisfail councillors and staff repeatedly attempted to assure the delegations on Aug. 10 that the town’s intent was not to stop utilizing the newspaper, nor was it financially motivated.
Meghan Jenkins, the town’s manager of community planning and sustainability, said during the hearing the town is “not necessarily” stopping all separate stand alone ads in The Albertan, adding the town “would probably” integrate them into the full page Town Voice.
Jenkins said the initiative was brought forward primarily to ensure the town fulfilled all its requirements under the MGA guidelines, which she said are “highly legislated” and affects timelines as the MGA requires public notification ads to be circulated two full weeks in a local newspapers.
“Because of the way our council meetings fall on a Monday and publishing days fall on Tuesdays we end up having to actually stagger, so we could potentially even shorten timelines for people utilizing the website,” said Jenkins.
Coun. Jean Barclay sought an assurance from staff that the town was not giving up on print.
Jenkins said items would still be in print, likely on the Town Voice page, unless large items required more space on a separate page.
Coun. Glen Carritt also said it was important for the town to continue using the newspaper, and if the new advertising plan is proving problematic the town can revisit its decision.
Nevertheless, the town’s assurances did not blunt the passionate objections from citizen delegations, which vehemently opposed the reduced reliance on the local newspaper.
“If you leave that (information) out of the paper you are alienating a lot of people. I don’t think that is very fair,” said senior citizen and newspaper carrier Myrna Kissick.
"You are very lucky to have that little newspaper. You should be proud of that little newspaper to be in this area to inform everybody what is going on.”
Blanchard, a resident in town for the past 12 years, said the changes would be especially hard on the town’s older residents, adding it’s his estimation that about 40 per cent of Innisfail’s 8,000 citizens are more than 65 years old, with up to 40 per cent of them “completely digitally incapable.”
He added the expected cost savings from the town’s initiative are “quite insignificant” – about $3,700, which he also believed will end up hurting the town’s most vulnerable.
“On the basis of a savings of $3,700 per annum you are going to cut off some up to 30 per cent of your population from having regular information about what is going on in our town,” said Blanchard. “Is that really worth it for $3,700?
“The point is aren’t your people in this town, your voters, worth $3,700 a year – 300 bucks a month? To quote president Obama, that’s chicken feed.”
