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Why not? Lets ban posters too!
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| Jayx1 |
The ban everything silliness continues
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Poster fight builds
City panel to debate new bid to limit ads on hydro poles
On some of the lampposts, hydro poles and hoardings that line Queen Street West, worn and torn posters advertise "Essay Writing," a party hosted by someone named "Delirious D" and the "Sex and Violence Cartoon Festival." In some places, only a thin layer of chewed-up, illegible fragments of old posters remains.
To some -- including several city councillors -- the practice of "postering" is an urban blight, a class of vandalism just a step above graffiti. But to Jason Collett, a guitarist with the Toronto rock band Broken Social Scene, posters are an integral part of the urban landscape, as well as the only way local musicians can get the word out about gigs.
Mr. Collett is among seven Toronto artists -- including headliners Sarah Harmer and Bob Wiseman -- playing a benefit concert on Feb. 18 for the Toronto Public Space Committee, a group of activists fighting a new proposal at City Hall to restrict such posters in a repeat of a drama played out two years ago.
The activists won that time. But now similar restrictions are once again before a council committee, which is set to debate the plan in March. That has Mr. Collett and others worried about stifling the city's local music scene, as well as the trampling of free speech.
"It's important not just for musicians, you know, but even somebody who's got a lost cat," he said yesterday. "For those of us who live downtown, it's an urban tradition."
He said that the force driving the bylaw, which would limit posters to just 4,000 hydro poles -- a fraction of the estimated 250,000 in the city -- is a "suburban notion."
"They want an urban place to have all of the predictability that is only about suburban living," he said, adding that he plans to put some posters up in the coming weeks to promote a series of concerts in Kensington Market featuring local songwriters. "This is a part of the aesthetic and the texture of the city."
But Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong (Don Valley East), who supports the bylaw's resurrection, says the "silent majority" of Torontonians feel the ad-covered hydro poles are an eyesore.
"It's pollution and it's litter," Mr. Minnan-Wong said. "It's people trying to make a buck at the expense of having an ugly neighbourhood."
Mayor David Miller, who has spearheaded a "clean and beautiful city" initiative, has said that the city needs to be mindful of constitutional free-speech issues in any attempt to regulate posters.
He was unavailable for comment yesterday. But a spokeswoman for the mayor, Andrea Addario, said Mr. Miller would be wary of anything that smacked of an onerous limit on free speech. "It's not about sterilizing the face of Toronto," she said.
Dave Meslin, the co-ordinator of the Public Space Committee fighting the ban, said he did not think the proposed bylaw would stand up to a court challenge.
While the Supreme Court of Canada did strike down an outright ban on posters in Peterborough as a violation of the right to free expression, it did rule that a municipality could regulate the size, location and length of time a poster could stay up.
The proposed bylaw will likely come up for discussion before the city's planning and transportation committee on March 7. City council would then debate it in April.
"If the bylaw passes, we will be encouraging people to violate it, and be charged," Mr. Meslin said. "And we'll support them in court."
He said the concert next Friday at the Bloor Cinema will likely bring in about $6,000 for his group's fight, which he said is bigger than just a crackdown on hydro-pole posters.
The real problem, he said, is the city's double standard. While toying with the idea of restricting posters put up by local bands and community groups, it has been allowing big corporations more and more opportunities to put up large advertising billboards. |
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| MarkT |
banning posters would be stupid.
what they need to do is legislate that when your event is done, you're responsible for the removal of all of your posters.
enforcing that would be difficult though...what does one do, sue a difficult to locate indie band or "starving artist"? |
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| Jayx1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by MarkT
banning posters would be stupid.
what they need to do is legislate that when your event is done, you're responsible for the removal of all of your posters.
enforcing that would be difficult though...what does one do, sue a difficult to locate indie band or "starving artist"? |
ahh but its the same mentality as the ban pit bulls and ban smoking mentality. Ban something because i dont happen to like it despite what other's think. |
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| MarkT |
| correct me if I'm wrong, but no one has been mauled or developed lung cancer from posters... |
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| ShadoWolf |
| hahah Reg Hartt is great |
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| infinity HiGH |
| quote: | Originally posted by MarkT
correct me if I'm wrong, but no one has been mauled or developed lung cancer from posters... |
My uncle was mauled by a poster once...not a pretty site :(
:rolleyes: :p |
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| bucky |
| maybe these local bands and musicians and people throwing events should take the initiative to clean up the hydro poles with old posters stuck all over them.. obviously some people in the city think the problem is that some of the hydro poles are ugly and look like litter, which they do. doesn't seem like it'd be too much for people to help clean them up once in a while. |
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| Jayx1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by MarkT
correct me if I'm wrong, but no one has been mauled or developed lung cancer from posters... |
Doesnt matter. the premise is that it effects other people's lives so it must be banned. The same premise behind every other ban. People say posters affect their quality of life and lower property values.
Like i said before, you cant pick and choose to use this mentality to suit yourself. Once you start the ban brigade its hard to stop. I really hope we get over this phase in society quickly. |
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| Detroit Joe |
I agree with this idea completely. In Europe they have special poster boards and those are the only places you are supposed to put posters. They also have designated places for graffiti art, another good idea.
Our city is in great shape when you compare it to the majority of large North American cities, but there are things that can still be fixed. Let's clean up the streats. An aesthetic city is a much nicer place to live. Get rid of the posters and graffiti, get rid of the f'n bums on the street, and it'll be a good start. The place to post fliers for a small concert is not on a telephone poll, it's in clubs and bars. Most clubs and bars have bulliten boards for this kind of stuff. Or music stores.
As far as the homeless go, don't even get me started. I've got a prepared 10 minute rant on what I would do if I ever had a terminal desease. There would be no more homeless problem in this city. Lazy bastards
Joe |
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| VERTiG0 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Detroit Joe
As far as the homeless go, don't even get me started. I've got a prepared 10 minute rant on what I would do if I ever had a terminal desease. There would be no more homeless problem in this city. Lazy bastards
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This is clearly the greatest thing I've ever read.
I, for one, would like to hear/read this rant. |
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| RobbyG. |
| quote: | Originally posted by infinity HiGH
My uncle was mauled by a poster once...not a pretty site :(
:rolleyes: :p |
Damn paper cuts.....ouch:whip: |
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| Jayx1 |
| If people are going to bitch an moan about posters they should move to the quiet and stirile suburbs where the only ads they will see are the ones for pepsi on billboards and bus stops. |
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