No paper? No problem.
Municipalities are required by law to post public notices in local newspapers for things like their financial statements, heritage buildings, planning bylaws, and more.
So with the news of Metroland's bankruptcy and the resulting death of 70 physical community newspapers, a group asked Municipal Affairs Minister Paul Calandra where those notices should go.
That's up to them, Calandra's office said.
"The Planning Act provides municipalities with authority to develop their own alternative notification process for planning applications through enabling official plan policies," spokesperson Alexandru Cioban said in a statement.
Under the Municipal Act, municipalities are also allowed to notify the public via website postings, email or mail, Cioban said.
"Municipalities are encouraged to consider how alternative notice provisions may support streamlined decision-making while ensuring compliance with existing statutes," he said.
Small towns with no printed papers have usually used online news outlets for their notices, Stephen O'Brien, the president of the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario, wrote to Calandra on Sept. 26.
"This recent announcement has resulted in printed newspapers being discontinued in many medium to large-sized municipalities, like Guelph, Barrie and Oakville," O'Brien wrote.
He said he didn't get a reply.
In a response to The Trillium, Cioban said the Ministry got the letter. He said the government "is aware of this issue and will continue to monitor and assess whether changes to legislation are required."
Two Ford government bills would make some tweaks on the file.
Newspapers published biweekly or less often aren't actually "newspapers" under Ontario's Legislation Act. Bill 73, the Supporting Ontario's Community, Rural and Agricultural Newspapers Act, would change the definition to include papers published at least monthly.
A "newspaper," under the new definition, would be a "document printed in sheet form, published at regular intervals of a month or less and circulated to the general public, and consists primarily of news of current events of general interest."
Bill 139, a regulation-cutting bill from Red Tape Reduction Minister Parm Gill, only affects notices related to the Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act. It would require those notices, historically published in newspapers, to be published on a government website.
Both bills are currently at committee.
