This week at Strathroy-Caradoc Council, Mayor Colin Grantham made his first proclamation since taking office. Recently, council was given correspondence from a volunteer advocacy group formed in March 2020 by former newsroom workers at the Waterloo Region Record newspaper. They are concerned with the decline in robust local journalism in their municipality and across Canada, and the group is working to build a culture of appreciation for public service journalism in Canada. They are reaching out to Ontario municipalities to recognize World Press Freedom Day on May 3, 2023 and Mayor Colin Grantham is using his very first proclamation for it.
The group is asking municipalities to recognize the day through mayoral proclamations, flag raising, or the lighting of municipal buildings. Grantham added an interesting fact, that Canada has slipped 6 places on the world press freedom index to 19th overall.
written by: C. Soares