Municipal Autonomy: Proposal for Law 122 tabled in Quebec

Tabled in early December, 2016, this proposed provincial law offers municipalities greater autonomy in several domains. Presented to the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Martin Coiteux, it will affect newspapers on several fronts.

Public Notices

For municipalities with over 5,000 residents, the city clerk has, until proposed Law 122 is enacted, the obligation to publish public notices in local newspapers. These are notices about proposed zoning changes, demolition plans, variance notices for renovations and new construction, changes to Land Use Planning bylaws or borrowing bylaws, etc. Generally these types of paid advertisements let residents known that changes can be contested, that proposed changes will be examined publically at a consultation, and indicate how residents can get more information about the changes. Although proposed Law 122 will, if adopted as it is now, give cities the option to publish these notices solely on their websites, they are not required to stop publishing them in print. They will now have the choice to do so.

Quebec’s logic behind this change is based on the municipalities’ arguments that local authorities know best when and under what conditions notices should be published in print; it is part of an over-all move to provide more authority and independence to cities, and reduce their costs.

Newspapers and civic democracy groups argue that a move away from permanent and open communication will result in a decline in public participation in cities. Quebec’s newspaper publishers point to the findings of the Charbonneau Commission as a concrete argument against allowing municipalities to be less transparent.

Dropping the requirement for public consultations

Another measure in the proposal is to relieve municipalities of the legal obligation to consult residents via public consultations when considering bylaw modifications to zoning, land-use planning, etc. The negative effect on municipal democracy and public participation is evident, but for the newspaper industry the burden is heavy. Without any obligation to hold consultations and then to publish the notices for the consultations, as well as the results of them, this reduction of information adds several layers of responsibility to both newspaper publishers and the lay-person who is left to seek out these details with fewer – and less reliable - sources.

Hearings on this bill

Quebec will hold hearings on this proposed law in the coming months. Newspaper associations will have an opportunity to participate. All publishers have been asked, by their associations, to speak to their MNAs about the anti-democratic consequences of the proposed changes in Law 122.  QCNA publishers were asked to speak to their MNAs about the disappearance of public notices in print, and are encouraged to meet them as soon as possible again, urging them to deny the cities’ request to be less transparent. Municipal councillors are also being asked to propose to their councils the continuation of good-governance practices.

P.S.  Members who have not contacted their MNAs are tacitly agreeing to take big cuts in their revenue streams and jumps in their work loads -- so start talking, fellow editors!  We could also clearly prove “the power of print” with this issue by making citizens aware of these cuts to the democratic process within municipalities.  Over to you, editors, it’s your ten thousand bucks under threat!