Whereas the Local Government Act and the Community Charter require that all public notices be published in a newspaper; And whereas printed newspapers are no longer the only or most effective means of giving public notice: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request the provincial government amend the Local Government Act and the Community Charter to allow statutorily required public notices to be published using a variety of media channels, including but not limited to: newspapers, social media, web sites and online advertising, as long as reasonably equivalent or better reach than that of solely using printed newspapers can be demonstrated.
Ministry of Community, Sport Cultural Development The Community Charter contains provisions for a degree of flexibility regarding the statutory requirement to publish a notice. Section 947 provides the option for a local government to broaden the types of media used to publish a notice that is, a local government must still publish the notice in a newspaper, but may in addition, publish the notice in another way e.g. on the internet. Section 944 of the Community Charter also addresses situations where publishing a notice in a newspaper is not practical. For example, in a small community without a local paper, a community could set alternative means to satisfy the statutory requirement to publish a notice. Legislative amendments on the publication of public notices are not being considered at this time.