In its attempts to maintain the distribution of its Publisac at all doors, Transcontinental has just suffered a new setback, since its appeal request was rejected on Monday.
The company was contesting in the Court of Appeal a judgment of the Superior Court, rendered in April 2022, which stipulated that the City of Mirabel had the right to implement a membership system for the distribution of Publisac.
In October 2019, Mirabel became the first city in Quebec to ban the automatic distribution of Publisac. It decided to give its residents a choice: those who wanted to receive the Publisac had to put a sticker on their mailbox, while the others would not receive it.
In its lawsuit filed in September 2019 before the Superior Court, Transcontinental alleged that the by-law of the City of Mirabel “violates the right to freedom of expression guaranteed by the Canadian and Quebec Charters”.
But according to justice, the beneficial effects of the regulation, which aims to reduce residual materials, far outweigh the harmful effects for the company.
Bypass the rules
Since last May, a membership system has also been in place in Montreal. The metropolis is also being sued by Transcontinental because of its settlement.
In April, Transcontinental announced the replacement of the Publisac with a thin, quarter-folded notebook that combines flyers from several retailers into a single printout of a limited number of pages, without plastic packaging.
To circumvent the Montreal regulations, Transcontinental turned to Canada Post for distribution. The Crown corporation says it does not have to comply with the by-law decreed by the City, but it invites citizens who do not want to receive advertisements to put a sticker or a notice on their mailbox.
Montreal’s municipal by-law provides that residents who wish to receive advertisements put a sticker on their mailbox (“opt-in”), while Canada Post does the opposite (“opt-out”), a decision that been decried by the administration of Mayor Valérie Plante.