November 6, 2008: THE NATIONAL POST

By Allison Hanes
      

The city of Toronto launched a new publication yesterday that Mayor David Miller called an important tool for communicating directly with residents but several councillors slammed as taxpayer-funded political propaganda.

Our Toronto will be mailed to every household in the city – or 1 million single-family dwellings and apartments – four times a year at a cost of $848,000 a year.

The full-colour newsprint magazine – printed on 100% recyclable paper with vegetable-based ink – replaces three themed annual publications on water, waste and roads. But council will be asked to approve another $400,000 to fund Our Toronto next year.

“This is an offensive piece of propaganda that is wasting taxpayers’ dollars at a time when we’re looking at double-digit tax increases next year,” complained councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong (Don Valley East). “You look at this and it looks like it’s a promotional tool that the mayor is using for his reelection.”

From the council floor, he attempted to return the newspaper to the "ministry of propaganda." 

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation compared Our Toronto to Pravda – the old Soviet-era mouthpiece of the Communist Party.

“This is a state-funded, state-run organ of communication that’s going to be coming from central command and it’s not different than the Pravda of the old days,” said Kevin Gaudet, the Ontario spokesperson, noted the irony that it was launched on a day council is debating a water-rate hike and user fees for garbage collection.

Mr. Miller denied that Our Toronto is his news organ, saying that although he expects to be a regular columnist, editorial control will belong to city communications director Kevin Sack, a civil servant.

“My column ultimately is my call but I would take advice from the editor, particularly about writing skills and editing and that sort of thing,” he said. “But I will say what I wish.”

The publication is a way to inform residents about changes to services and programs, he said, or let agencies like libraries and public transit get their message out.

“I think it’s very important that Torontonians know what’s going on, know who to reach and where to reach,” Mr. Miller said. “And in a very big city like Toronto where are operating and capital budgets combined are billions of dollars, this is very appropriate and important to communicate with the people.”

In addition to the hardcopy, Our Toronto will also be published online and translated into close to a dozen languages, from Chinese to Urdu, to reach diverse communities.

While some councilllors send newsletters to their constituents, Mr. Miller said the newspaper is a way to make sure everyone gets the same vital information.

“They sort of go hand and glove. Councillors newsletters are often about local issues. They may even contain political perspectives. It’s up to each individual councillor,” he said. “This publication is about city-wide programs and issues.”

Councillor Michael Thompson (Scarborough Centre) disputed the mayor’s characterization of Our Toronto.

“This is his newsletter,” he said. “This is nonsense. This seems to be all about the mayor’s agenda. Everything I see here, has to do with what the mayor wants… This is a travesty.”

Councillors Karen Stintz (Eglinton Lawrence) and Cliff Jenkins (Don Valley West) said Our Toronto ought to be funded out of the mayor’s office budget, not general operating revenues.

Councillor Mike Del Grande (Scarborough Agincourt) said he has to fund his own newsletter out of his office budget, and so should Mr. Miller – especially since after leafing through the 24-page newspaper he found at least eight references to the mayor.

“It’s a very scary piece with respect to self-promotion,” said Mr. Del Grande. “We already get criticized about public monies being used. I have a newsletter. I put one out twice a year. And I make very, very sure that I’m not promoting myself, I’m providing basic facts and information to the public about what’s going on.”

Councillor Adam Vaughan, who was a television journalist before he entered politics in 2006, said government reaching citizens directly is essential to democracy and "of course" their is a political dimension to such communication.

"It’s not the responsibility of the citizen alone to access city hall. City hall also has to access citizens," he said. “Any politician wants their message to be as clear and as concise and as true to their objective as possible. It’s unfair to say ‘Is this politically motivated?’ Of course it is... But the real challenge is here is whether other councillors will be able to put stuff in this."

Councillor Gord Perks (Parkdale High Park) said he foresees many of his residents clipping out pages of Our Toronto and sticking them to their fridges.

Of the critics, he said: “Some of my colleagues need to grow up.