The mayors of Greater Montreal on Thursday supported Mayor Valérie Plante in her fight against the large-scale distribution of Publisac in the metropolis.
Posted at 11:04 a.m.
The council of the Montreal Metropolitan Community (CMM) is asking Ottawa “to impose a moratorium on the distribution of unsolicited promotional items by Canada Post,” according to the text of the motion adopted Thursday morning.
Earlier this year, Montreal banned the distribution of unsolicited advertisements on its territory, explaining that the impact on the environment was too great. But Transcontinental – the company that markets the Publisac – turned to Canada Post to distribute it. As it is a federal corporation, it is shielded from municipal regulation.
On Monday, the Montreal city council unanimously supported the mayor in her call to action for Canada Post and Ottawa.
On Thursday, it was MWC’s turn to do the same. It “evaluates that the printed advertising distributed to a single address for a year totals 26 kilos of residual materials that municipalities must manage”. For Montreal, we are talking about 17,000 tonnes of paper and plastic per year, or 11% of the content of green bins.