{"id":982,"date":"2025-10-17T19:29:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T19:29:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.avenircitejardin.com\/?p=982"},"modified":"2025-10-17T19:29:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T19:29:17","slug":"enough-disinformation-funded-by-our-taxes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.avenircitejardin.com\/?p=982&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Enough Disinformation Funded by Our Taxes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I denounce the drift of the outgoing administration, which has gradually replaced independent municipal information with partisan communication<\/strong>, financed with taxpayers\u2019 money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together with my team, Avenir Cit\u00e9-Jardin – Team Maryam<\/strong>, I am committed to restoring transparency, fairness, and media pluralism<\/strong> in Town of Mount Royal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chronology of Facts (Official Decisions)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

February 2022 – End of Pluralism: The Shutdown of La Poste<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On February 22, 2022<\/strong>, Town Council adopted By-law No. 1465<\/strong> concerning the rules for publishing public notices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The measure was adopted by majority vote – I voted against –<\/strong> and it put an end to the publication of municipal notices in La Poste<\/em>, an independent local newspaper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that time, La Poste<\/em> held the exclusive mandate for this task. It was the only local media outlet<\/strong> publishing both official public notices<\/strong> and citizens\u2019 open letters<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On August 11, 2022<\/strong>, the editor-in-chief of La Poste<\/em> was summoned to Town Hall<\/strong> and was asked to forward citizens\u2019 letters to the Mayor\u2019s office for approval before publication.<\/strong>
The editor categorically refused<\/strong> this attempt at interference. Only one letter was ever forwarded to the Mayor – who, on that occasion, chose not to censor it – and La Poste<\/em> subsequently continued to publish citizens\u2019 letters freely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From that point on, the number of municipal advertisements placed in La Poste<\/em> steadily declined<\/strong>, undermining its revenues.
Despite several appeals for assistance made to the Town, no solution was offered<\/strong>, and La Poste<\/em> eventually declared bankruptcy at the end of 2023<\/strong> – marking the disappearance of an independent local media outlet, active for 25 years, in favour of a now tightly controlled municipal communications apparatus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

June 2022 \u2013 The Beginning of Massive Transfers to Mr. Leonardo\u2019s Newspaper<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On June 14, 2022<\/strong>, a resolution (No. 22-06-13<\/strong>) authorized an expenditure of $70,500<\/strong> for the purchase of media space<\/em>, adopted by majority vote – I voted against.<\/strong>
Behind this administrative wording lies the transfer of municipal funds to the Journal de Mont-Royal (Leonardo)<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This amount was in addition to the payments for public notices<\/strong> that the Town had already decided to redirect to the same newspaper<\/strong>, thus marking the return of politically controlled municipal communication.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2023\u20132024 \u2013 Soaring Amounts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to documents obtained through access-to-information requests<\/strong>, annual payments to the Journal de Mont-Royal \/ Leonardo<\/em> rose from approximately $40,000 in 2022<\/strong> to $60,879 in 2023<\/strong>, then to $111,008 in 2024<\/strong>, and continue in 2025.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beginning in January 2024<\/strong>, the paper\u2019s print run doubled<\/strong> \u2014 from about 3,500 to 7,000 copies per week<\/strong> \u2014 thanks to public funds<\/strong> decided between the outgoing Mayor and the Journal de Mont-Royal (Leonardo)<\/em>, and then approved by the majority of Council \u2014 I voted against.<\/strong>
In other words, the size and reach of this media outlet have doubled thanks to taxpayers\u2019 money.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For 2025<\/strong>, a total of $95,447.75<\/strong> has been approved and allocated<\/strong> for Media Space Procurement – Le Phare \/ Journal de Mont-Royal \u2013 2025<\/em>, and $48,462.04<\/strong> has already been paid<\/strong> as of the end of July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, local media pluralism has collapsed<\/strong>: La Poste<\/em> has ceased operations, replaced by a subsidized, compliant media outlet aligned with the outgoing administration.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A City-Funded and Partisan Newspaper<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The outgoing Mayor\u2019s tolerance<\/strong> toward the Journal de Mont-Royal<\/em>\u2019s publications demonstrates the tacit support this newspaper enjoys.<\/strong>
It routinely publishes content favourable to the current administration<\/strong> and hostile to engaged citizens\u2019 voices<\/strong> – particularly my team and myself<\/strong> – by spreading incomplete, biased, and sometimes inaccurate information.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I deplore the fact that a newspaper financed by our taxes is being used to attack the only alternative to the outgoing Mayor and to influence the municipal election campaign.<\/strong>
This is not municipal information – it is an abuse of public funds.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Call for Transparency and Media Fairness<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With my team<\/strong>, I pledge to implement immediate and concrete measures<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1\ufe0f\u20e3 End public funding of partisan media.<\/strong>
No public money should ever serve to benefit a political faction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2\ufe0f\u20e3 Restore pluralism in public notices.<\/strong>
Publish all official notices both on the Town\u2019s website<\/strong> and in at least one independent newspaper<\/strong>, ensuring accessibility and accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3\ufe0f\u20e3 Encourage the creation and growth of other local weeklies.<\/strong>
\u2022 Establish fair municipal advertising purchases<\/strong>, distributed among eligible local media;
\u2022 Create non-partisan micro-grants<\/strong> (transparent seed funding) to encourage competition<\/strong> and the emergence of new independent weeklies<\/strong>;
\u2022 Include in all communication contracts editorial-independence clauses<\/strong> and citizen-impact indicators<\/strong> (distribution, diversity of viewpoints, transparency of sources).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4\ufe0f\u20e3 Ensure full transparency in all communication contracts.<\/strong>
Proactively publish all contracts, amounts, recipients, and selection criteria<\/strong> in a publicly accessible online register.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTown of Mount Royal deserves better than a complacent newspaper.
Citizens have the right to honest, independent information, funded in the public interest \u2014 not to serve those in power.
With my team, I will restore credibility, plurality, and public purpose to municipal information.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maryam Kamali Nezhad, Eng., Ph.D<\/strong>
Candidate for Mayor – Avenir Cit\u00e9-Jardin \u2013 \u00c9quipe Maryam<\/em>
\ud83d\udce7 info@avenircitejardin.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

514-222-9281<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#MountRoyal #GardenCity #Transparency #CitizenParticipation #MunicipalElection2025 #MaryamKamaliNezhad #AvenirCit\u00e9Jardin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I denounce the drift of the outgoing administration, which has gradually replaced independent municipal information with partisan communication, financed with taxpayers\u2019 money. Together with my team, Avenir Cit\u00e9-Jardin – Team Maryam, I am committed to restoring transparency, fairness, and media pluralism in Town of Mount Royal. Chronology of Facts (Official Decisions) February 2022 – End of Pluralism: The Shutdown […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-actu-en"],"yoast_head":"\nEnough Disinformation Funded by Our Taxes - Avenir Cit\u00e9 Jardin - \u00c9quipe Maryam<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.avenircitejardin.com\/?p=982&lang=en\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Enough Disinformation Funded by Our Taxes - Avenir Cit\u00e9 Jardin - \u00c9quipe Maryam\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I denounce the drift of the outgoing administration, which has gradually replaced independent municipal information with partisan communication, financed with taxpayers\u2019 money. 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