Metro News (CHRISD.CA)
Local Liberal candidates were hawking copies of the new Metro Winnipeg daily newspaper Tuesday morning. The only problem? Metro News is in no way connected to the Liberal Party.
St. Boniface candidate Ray Simard, Winnipeg Centre candidate Allen Wise, Charleswood–St. James–Assiniboia candidate Rob Clement and Winnipeg South candidate Terry Duguid were handing out the papers between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. at four different intersections throughout the city.
Late Monday afternoon, the Liberals sent out a media advisory promoting the planned photo-op.
Because the paper is free, the chain can’t really control who hands their product out, but the PR stunt isn’t sitting well with the Metro, who only launched in Winnipeg yesterday.
“The Liberal Party of Canada is distributing copies of Metro Winnipeg under their own volition,” Publisher Steve Shrout told ChrisD.ca. “Metro has not partnered with them in this regard. (They) didn’t tell us they were going to distribute in public.”
The Liberals bought ad space in the Metro — which covered the front and back covers on Tuesday — and are making similar ad buys in other Metro papers across the country.
The daily paper reaches about 40,000 people Winnipeg and is targeted at a commuter demographic.
