The 50-page judgment was delivered on Wednesday. TC Transcontinental, which believes that this measure door reached […] freedom of expression guaranteed by the Canadian and Quebec charters
immediately declared in a press release that it intended to challenge this decision before the Quebec Court of Appeal.
In cause: a regulation adopted in 2019 that limits the distribution of any printed . This was a first in Quebec at the time. Since then, other municipalities, such as Montreal, have announced their intention to follow suit.
The by-law in question provides that the distribution of printed material such as the Publisac is prohibited by default, except to residents who have expressly requested to receive them by affixing a sticker to this effect on their door or on their post office box (opt in).
Conversely, TC Transcontinental claims to be able to continue to distribute its Pulisac to all households, except those who have explicitly requested not to receive it (opt out). This way of doing things, argues the company, is simple and efficient
. <q data-attributes="{"lang":{"value":"fr","label":"Français"},"value":{"html":"À preuve, plus de 200000Quebec households take advantage of it”,”text”:”As proof, more than 200,000Quebec households take advantage of it”}}”>As proof, more than 200,000 Quebec households take advantage of it.she points out.
<q data-attributes="{"lang":{"value":"fr","label":"Français"},"value":{"html":"La fin du Publisac àMirabel”,”text”:”The end of the Publisac in Mirabel”}}”>The end of the Publisac in Mirabel
This Laurentian municipality was delighted with its victory in the Superior Court on Thursday. This is a major turning point for Mirabel, as for the other cities that will follow suit in reducing paper consumption.
declared the mayor of Mirabel, Patrick Charbonneau, in a press release.
The City of Mirabel now invites TC Transcontinental to stop violating the regulations by contributing to this eco-responsible initiative
.
The company, for its part, argues that the imposition of a system opt in, that she has been contesting for three years, would lead to the end of the distribution of the Publisac in Mirabel
.
In the current inflationary context and at a time when the population is facing unprecedented price increases, the social and economic relevance of the Publisac is greater than ever.
she pleads in her press release on Wednesday.
In fact, the Publisac, in addition to giving consumers access to discounts, allows the distribution of local newspapers at an advantageous cost, meets the needs of merchants to attract customers to the store and to face the giants of e-commerce. and generates thousands of direct and indirect jobs.
The City of Montreal comforted
Finally, in Montreal, the administration of Valérie Plante, which also intends to restrict the distribution of the Publisac from 2023said he believed that this judgment of the Superior Court reflects the desire of citizens and municipalities to accelerate the ecological transition, for which reduction at source plays a central role
.
The mayoress says that approximately 800,000 flyers and other unsolicited advertisements arrive at the doors of Montreal homes each week, which represents more than 41 million flyers a year that end up in recycling sites and dumps. The City of Montreal is aiming for zero waste by 2030.
The change in policy regarding printed advertisements, which was already in the boxes of Projet Montréal during its first mandate, from 2017 to 2021, was announced last week. It also provides that the Publisac will now have to be made of paper rather than plastic.
With information from Gabrielle Proulx