Each year, the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) gather for a convention, and delegates discuss a variety of motions that pertain to the operation of the cities, towns and villages in the province.
Some of them are more specific to a community or region, and have a minimal impact to the province as a whole. Others can have a very big impact on communities across the province.
One of the motions for this year鈥檚 convention is from the Town of Pilot Butte to 鈥渕odernize鈥� public notice requirements. In their motion, they note that most public notices are required to be advertised in a newspaper circulating in the municipality, and that newspapers are no longer available in all municipalities.
It also claims that electronic communications are becoming the norm in society and the use of technology such as email, municipal websites, social media and other electronic avenues are an acceptable method for a variety of messages.
If the motion is passed, SUMA would then lobby the provincial government to review the public notice requirements and expand the methods of communicating with taxpayers to include consideration of other options.
Municipalities can turn to other sources all they want for their advertising, but we think newspapers are still plenty modern, and the best option available.
While electronic and digital options are becoming more popular with each passing year, they still aren鈥檛 as widespread as some would have you believe. A lot of people with a keen interest in these notices still don鈥檛 have Internet access. Others won鈥檛 be checking back to the municipality鈥檚 website on a regular basis to see these notices.
But these people check their weekly newspaper to see if there are notices they need to be aware of.
Would those who want to bid on projects have to come to the municipal office to see if there are any recent notices? If that鈥檚 the case, then that takes away the convenience for the ratepayer affected by the notice, or it removes the convenience for the business looking to bid on the contract.
Social media? Contrary to what some people will tell you, not everybody is on Facebook, Twitter, Instragram and the other social media options that populate the Internet. If social media becomes your primary outlet for notices, then many people who you鈥檙e trying to reach will fall through the cracks. 聽
Weekly newspapers are the most convenient way to get your information out to as many people as possible.
And when they book their notices in their local newspaper, they are supporting a business in their community. Nobody in the community benefits when you start spending money on social media advertising.
According to the website for the Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers Association, there are 65 member newspapers in the province. There are some weeklies that wouldn鈥檛 be part of the association. Given the reach that most of these papers have in rural communities, you can be sure that virtually all communities are included in the distribution of a weekly newspaper.
Many communities are covered by two or three weekly newspapers.
Weekly newspapers are based in cities like Estevan, Weyburn, Yorkton, North Battleford and Swift Current, and in villages as small as Herbert, Gravelbourg and Vibank. All of these papers do an admirable job of serving their communities, keeping them informed of what is happening.
There are a few that aren鈥檛 served by a weekly newspaper, but the number of communities not served by a weekly is dwarfed by those that are served.
They tell people about what is happening at the municipal council meetings and the events in the community, while providing information on the challenges facing the community.
That鈥檚 why they remain the best source of information for a community and the source that people turn to. They aren鈥檛 just the source for the community where they鈥檙e based; they鈥檙e also a source of valuable information for rural communities as well.
Newspapers still matter.
And so when it comes time for towns, villages and rural municipalities to place their notices, they still need to turn to their local newspaper, and compliment the paper with electronic and digital sources.
