On Sat., April 14, speaking at the Manitoba Community Newspapers Association’s 99th annual dinner, provincial Sport, Culture and Heritage minister Cathy Cox assured publishers and staff of the province’s 48 community newspapers that public notices required of provincial and municipal governments will remain in newspapers.
Cox said that – despite clauses in Bill 8 (The Government Notices Modernization Act) and Bill 19 (The Planning Amendment Act) which strike requirements that such notices be placed in newspapers – the Progressive Conservative government of Manitoba would pass the bills in their current form but would not “proclaim” into law the sections pertaining to public notices.
She repeated that position three days later at a meeting with MCNA’s board of directors.
While Cox clearly meant well, her announcement simply doesn’t go far enough. Leaving sections of these bills “unproclaimed” means that government could enact these provisions without warning or consultation.
The thought does not sit well. That a government will have legislation on the books that does away with requirements to publish government and municipal notices in newspapers could make it difficult for Manitobans to actively participate in the democratic process.
The province’s community newspapers, which publish more than 400,000 copies each week and which boast readership numbers of 80 per cent, are the surest way of informing the public of the activities and business of provincial and municipal governments. Making notices available only online, as proposed, not only assumes that people will actively seek them out, which is highly unlikely, it blatantly ignores those Manitobans with poor or no internet access.
The only proper way to deal with Bill 8, sponsored by Min. Cox, and Bill 19, sponsored by Municipal Relations minister James Wharton, is to either amend the sections that deal with public notices or to withdraw the bills altogether.
Over the past week, MCNA directors have met with the NDP caucus, the Liberal caucus and independent MLA Steven Fletcher, all of whom fully support our positions on Bills 8 and 19.
The NDP has gone so far as to ensure that Bill 8 will be held over until the fall session of Legislature to allow for further debate.
That leaves Bill 19 to be dealt with in this, the spring session of the current Legislature. When Min. Wharton called for second reading of Bill 19 in the Manitoba Legislative Assembly on April 19, he was asked by several opposition MLAs how the government would deal with the public notice requirement.
According to Hansard, he said, “The government will seek to amend the bill to ensure newspaper-notice requirements is preserved.”
The MCNA intends to hold Min. Wharton to his word.
In the next week, a standing committee will be called to discuss Bill 19 and to hear from the public on the bill. Every Manitoban may appear before the committee to express concerns with the bill in the hope it will be amended.
The MCNA and its member papers will be in attendance to encourage the committee to propose an amendment to Section 25 of Bill 19 – the section removing the requirement to advertise public notices pertaining to the Municipal Planning Act. The government is proposing the requirement be changed to simply posting notice on a municipality’s or planning department’s website for 27 days prior to any public hearing.
The MCNA will request that Bill 19 maintain the current requirement to place public notices in newspapers, and that it add a requirement to also post them on a municipality’s or planning department’s website.
Such an amendment will truly enhance communication between government and the public – not reduce it, as Bill 19 does in its current form.
John Kendle is managing editor of Canstar Community News, which publishes six weekly community newspapers in Winnipeg and area. He is also a director of the Manitoba Community Newspapers Association.
