Chinese-only bus shelter ads will soon become a thing of the past in Richmond.
The City of Richmond is moving ahead with a new contract for bus shelters on city property, after its five-year agreement with Pattison Outdoor Advertising expired at the end of 2015.
City spokesperson Ted Townsend confirmed the city had made English language requirements in its request for proposals last year.
Townsend said the city is reviewing the proposals and expects to submit a recommendation to Richmond city council “as soon as possible.”
Such ads have sparked controversy in the city, similar to Chinese-only business signs.
However, unlike business signs, which the city chose not to regulate, the city is able to make its case for English on bus shelters.
Townsend said such a request is possible and not in potential violation with the Canadian Charter of Rights because the shelters are on city land.
“Pattison is allowed to place the bus shelters there and sell advertising through a contract with the city, which gives us the ability to make our preferences a requirement, whereas business signs are on private property,” explained Townsend.
There are currently 48 Pattison-owned shelters; the city receives about $60,000 in annual revenue from them.
The city is also seeking to upgrade many of the shelters, although details of the new contract will be made available to council in the near future.
The city had compared different models of bus shelter management, including becoming the sole proprietor of shelters, as is the case in Burnaby. The vast majority of cities in B.C. outsource advertising to companies, such as Pattison.
Last month, Coun. Chak Au complained to the city that Pattison had allowed a mostly Chinese Budweiser ad on a bus shelter. Pattison took the ad down in front of Richmond City Hall but left up several similar ads around the city.
Pattison did not respond to several requests from the Richmond News for an explanation.
