We'll See You On The Streets

In a city where our space has been handed over to large corporations, it is imperative to the public good (a last priority to corporations and even some local MP's) that citizens are able to use their public space as a democratic platform. A practice that has been employed by some members of the public that helps in creating this desired common public forum is the use of posters to convey their messages. Similar to the way in which corporations use advertisements to raise consumer awareness of their products, posters similarly achieve the same results for Toronto citizens, although on a much less effective level because there truly is no way for the public's 8x11 posters to compete with the even larger, more appealing and sexually charged billboards and posters of companies such as American Apparel.

However, while some city councillors (the wonderful Janet Davis) agree with our stance on the importance of 'posterization' as a method to reclaim public streets, other city council members disagree with our cause (the foolish Glen De Baeremaeker).

Videos via The Toronto Public Space Committee
Councillor De Baeremaeker not only finds that the monstrous and cluttering ads within Toronto are beautiful but he also finds that selling public space without public consent has positive consequences. He fails to understand the negative implications that this not only has on the cognition of citizens but also on the public's right to freedom of expression. Where do posters fit in within the impediment of democracy?
Within Toronto, city councillors (including Glen De Baeremaeker) are attempting to pass the anti-postering by law which prohibits the placement of posters to only %2 of all utility poles. If you haven't already observed the current situation with posters in Toronto, there already isn't sufficient space on the utility poles available to convey one's message properly. Many of the poles also harbor those of large companies, threatening the public voice in one of the last options available to them in making their voices heard. The by-law also stated that "a poster may not cover or overlap another poster or community poster, in whole or in part. Posters or community posters can be only one layer thick." However, as stated earlier, what other options exist when there is not enough space. This proposed by-law solely becomes a liability, costing too much money to maintain and further privatizing public space. It is important that this by-law is rejected within city council
The City’s Clean and Beautiful City Initiative proposes the installment of posting columns as a replacement for the cluttered utility poles, however, this only contributes to the lack of space already available.
Advertising may allocate the city of Toronto an extra $80-million dollars that will help fund the already inadequate social programs, but in doing so it proliferates a whole new set of issues. In order for public space to truly thrive, it is imperative that we not only highlight the problems that arise with advertising but propose different options that can replace them (something councilor De Baeremaeker has the inability to do). One thing is certain, posters are a key part in keeping public space public as opposed to private.