A relationship that we must protect – Across Quebec, people discuss, recognize each other and live together through their local paper. Each week, 178 bearers of news enter people’s home for free and without discrimination to inform them of what is going on in their neighbourhood, in their village, in their region…to talk about their son, their uncle, their neighbour, their mayor or their grocer. A love story, based on truth and transparence, experienced by 6,5 millions of Quebecor. A relationship that we must protect because everywhere in the province, the citizens, the organizations, the elected and the entrepreneur deserve to be heard when they state: My newspaper, a must.
Together, let’s demonstrate our interest to transparent information and let’s create a collective movement to the greatness of our love!
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The publication of public notices in regional newspapers is at stake as far as transparence and protection of healthy democracy! No matter what some people are saying, to this day, we don’t know any media other than free regional newspapers that are distributed directly to each citizen regardless of their age, social status, income, and without any pre-selection, without searching and without considering their technological competences. The right to an unfiltered information, neutral, credible and verified, is a FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT; it is an indispensable bulwark to our democracy.
Bill 122 forecast that municipalities won’t have to publish their public notices in local newspapers.. We are talking about a serious infringement toward the transparence of information coming from the municipalities. The public access to municipal information would be directly violated since the accessibility of public notices would then be reduced and citizen would have to make a constant effort to retrieve that information for which we should facilitate the access. Concretely, it reversing the burden on the citizen who from now on, must search for the information on projects and decisions that will affect HIS or HER life in HIS or HER city.
In Quebec, the productions broadcast on most media benefit from subsidies or tax credits; televisions, radios, community channel…. everything besides newspapers. Even Finland, Norway, Sweden, France, United Kingdom and United States, they all offer an aid program to print media which reach up yearly to two billion dollars. In Quebec, up to this day: NOTHING, NADA.
In 2004, the Federal government invested 20 M $ in local newspapers, when in 2014, the amount dropped to 357 000$ which represents a reduction of 98% for Canadian newspapers. In that same year, the government of Canada invested 4,7 M$ in advertising on both Facebook and Google, American enterprises that generate no benefit to our country, pay no taxes and on which we have no control. In short, your government take your money and send it directly to the Americans. What will happen when Facebook and Google will change their algorithms? Already they decide what you can or cannot see on Facebook. Will we be to their mercy? Is it what we want? That those 2 American giants decide and control the information to which we have access and that is necessary to our democracy..
Since 2006, printed newspapers are obliged to participate in the financing of the net costs of municipal curbside services. For example, over the past 10 years, newspapers have seen their contribution to the cost of recycling of paper in the province increase by 1075%. In fact, some newspapers must, in addition to their taxes, pay up to $ 100,000 in recycling costs. Amount that is then returned to the municipalities. Why it is called the law of the “last man standing”? It’s simple, because the amount of the invoice, which is closer to $ 10,000,000, has to be paid to the government, regardless the number of newspapers in Quebec. In fact, if the number of newspapers decreases, everyone’s bill increases and if one day only one remains, he SHALL assume the 10 million alone! An aberration, a nonsense… Why should newspapers pay government to give citizens access to information, a fundamental right in our society? Such a law is completely abusive.
