ACTION ALERT: Defend Canada Post from deregulation

July 4, 2008

The federal government is reviewing our post office for the first time in 12 years. It has asked an advisory panel to conduct this inquiry, which it is calling the Canada Post Corporation Strategic Review (CPCSR).

The government’s strategic review will look at a very basic and important issue: Should Canada Post continue to have an exclusive privilege to handle addressed letters or should the letter market be open to competition?

Canada Post has an exclusive privilege to handle letters so that it is able to generate enough money to provide affordable postal service to everyone, no matter where they live in our huge country, be it a large urban centre or a rural or isolated community. It will become increasingly difficult for our public post office to provide universal postal service if the government erodes or eliminates the very mechanism that funds universal postal service.

Providing Canada Post with an exclusive privilege to handle addressed letters is a form of regulation. Reducing or eliminating this privilege is deregulation. Deregulation would also lead to privacy issues, including the fact that many competitors would be American-based companies that are subject to the terms of the USA Patriot Act. Under the terms of this Act, American subsidiaries delivering mail in Canada can be required to provide the American government with any records they have concerning the sending or receipt of mail.

There is no good reason to change the mechanism that funds universal postal service. We currently have one of the lowest standard postage rates in the industrial world. Our postal services are universal and affordable, no small feat in the second largest country in the world.

The government has appointed a three-person advisory panel to conduct its review: Robert Campbell, Nicole Beaudoin, and Daniel H. Bader. Mr. Campbell has published two books on postal services in which he has advocated for the end of postal monopolies. In 2002 he published a paper entitled ‘It’s time for Serious Postal Reform’ in which he stated “Canada’s postal system should pursue both liberalization and regulation. Liberalization should gradually remove the exclusive privilege.” To date, the other members of the panel have not written on postal issues.

The federal government has decided not to hold public hearings in connection with its review. It has asked the review’s advisory panel to accept submissions from the public and groups over a four-month period which includes the summer. The decision to forgo hearings and adhere to a tight time frame appears to be designed to limit input from the real owners of our post office – the public.

For further reading on this issue, you may want to consult the CUPW website for fact sheets, bulletins and other documents at http://www.cupw.ca/1/0/8/8/1/index1.shtml

MAKE A SUBMISSION

Submissions are due by September 2, 2008.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is asking the public, community groups, small businesses and others to consider making submissions to the CPCSR in support of universal public postal service. A submission can be short or long. It can be a letter.

You can send your submission by
MAIL - Canada Post Corporation Strategic Review, 330 Sparks Street (HCCR), Ottawa, Ontario, K1A ON5
FAX - 613-990-9033
EMAIL – Send a PDF or MS Word document attachment to info@cpcsr-esscp.gc.ca
WEBSITE – Make your views known by going to http://www.cpcstrategicreview-examenstrategiquescp.gc.ca/hw-eng.html

Within the sample letter below, you may want to insert a line on how you rely on or use the mail

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear advisory panel,

As a member of the Council of Canadians, I am writing to demand that our public post office not be deregulated and that Canada Post maintain its exclusive privilege to handle addressed letters. As mail user, I am concerned by deregulation. Deregulation elsewhere has not proven to be a good thing for the public. I am also very concerned that the review of our public post office does not include public hearings. I believe that the government should not make any decisions about our public post office until it has properly consulted with the public. The government should also extend the deadline for the submissions. Canada currently has one of the lowest standard postage rates in the industrial world, and our postal services are universal and affordable. This is something to celebrate, not deregulate and dismantle. I await your reply.

Sincerely,