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After more than a year of discussions, the City of Montreal is still hoping Canada Post will stop the distribution of publicity materials that it says causes unwanted waste.
On Tuesday, the city unveiled the first-year results of a bylaw banning the universal distribution of certain advertising flyers, which went into effect in May 2023.
It noted a 40 per cent reduction in the volume of printed products between 2023 and 2024 and a 100 per cent reduction of plastic bags related to advertising distribution. Last year, newsprint made up just three per cent of all waste sent to the Lachine sorting centre, compared with 10 per cent in 2019.
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Known as the Publisac ban, the bylaw reined in the practice of distributing advertising material to households and required households to opt in. It also banned the use of plastic bags to distribute free flyers and community newspapers.
After the bylaw was enacted, distribution company Transcontinental severely reduced the size of its Publisac, which now goes by the moniker Raddar; there is also an online version for those who don’t want to receive the paper version by mail. The new publication looks like a small tabloid and contains publicity listing sales at local grocery stores and department stores like Canadian Tire and Walmart. The product no longer includes community newspapers, and Transcontinental says the physical version produces 60 per cent less paper than the Publisac did.
Despite the objections of Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, Raddar continues to be distributed to all households that do not opt out of the service. That’s because Transcontinental has chosen to use the distribution service of Canada Post, which as a Crown corporation is not beholden to the city’s bylaw.
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On Tuesday, Marie-Andrée Mauger, the executive committee member in charge of the ecological transition, said she believes Canada Post is acting in violation of the federal government’s own anti-spam laws by distributing publicity without the permission of those receiving it.
“The anti-spam laws apply to emails, but this is the same logic,” Mauger said. “People are obliged to give their permission to receive electronic publications, so what’s good for digital (publications) must be good for printed material.”
She said the city continues to pursue the issue with the federal government.
“We have spoken a lot with Canada Post and with federal MPs,” she said. “So far, there has been no success, but discussions continue and we’re hoping that one day there will be a change to the law. In 2024, we can no longer have business models that are based on overproduction and waste.”
Mauger pointed out that there has been some success with the bylaw, as Transcontinental has severely reduced the amount of newsprint it sends out every week.
“The good thing is that Transcontinental modified its business plan,” she said. “There’s no more plastic bag, and the size of the paper product is much smaller, so when we look at the global impact, it’s very positive.”
In a statement, Plante said she’s proud of the results.
“It shows that simple acts like changing the way people receive publicity can have a positive and direct impact on the environment,” she wrote.
The Gazette reached out to Canada Post, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
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