Three postal issues of importance to rural and remote residents

BY PRIORTY COURIER

Prime Minister Stephen Harper
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

Dear Prime Minister:

Subject: Three postal issues of importance to rural and remote residents

I am writing to raise concerns about three postal issues that mean a lot to people from rural and remote communities: 1) Canada Post's exclusive privilege to deliver letters; 2) rural mail delivery and safety; 3) and the moratorium on post office closures.

Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities has indicated that he will take substantive steps in a few weeks to deal with the issues of international remailers.  These issues are complex and fundamentally tied to Canada Post's exclusive privilege to deliver letters, which exists to provide the post office with the revenue it needs to provide universal postal services. In providing Canada Post with an exclusive privilege, Parliament understood that market forces alone could not guarantee a reasonable level of service at affordable prices to people throughout this vast land, particularly those living in rural and remote parts of the country.

CUPW would like you to encourage Minister Cannon to meet with CUPW before he considers taking any steps that might undermine the exclusive privilege. The federal government should not consider such a fundamental change without a public debate and a parliamentary vote.

I would also like you to urge Minister Cannon to consult with the union before developing measures aimed at solving rural mail delivery problems. CUPW representatives have first-hand knowledge of the safety and delivery problems within a community. It will be difficult for the Minister to develop solutions that make sense without having our input.  You may also be interested to know that the union is already working with Canada Post to develop workable solutions.

I have attached, for your information, additional material relating to rural mail delivery.

I have also attached a letter I recently sent to Minister Cannon which outlines our concerns regarding the moratorium on post office closures in rural and small towns. Neither Minister Cannon nor Canada Post President Moya Greene have provided a list of the post offices that are covered by moratorium. As well, they have not established a clear and democratic process for dealing with closures. We would like to know if your government is willing to instruct Canada Post to consult with the public, postal unions and other major stakeholders when making a decision to keep or close a post office covered by the moratorium.

As you may know, we have raised most of these concerns with Minister Cannon. We have also asked to meet with him to discuss our concerns. To date, the Minister has not agreed to meet. We would appreciate anything you can do to ensure that the public and postal unions have a say in these very important matters. Likewise, we would appreciate your help in obtaining a meeting with Minister Cannon.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours truly,

Deborah Bourque
National President
Canadian Union of Postal Workers

Enclosures (2)

c.c.       National Executive Committee
            Regional Executive Committee
            National Union Representatives
            CUPW Specialists
            Presidents, CUPW Locals
            All Members of Parliament
            Lawrence Cannon, Minister, Transport, Infrastructure and Communities
            Canada Post President Moya Greene
            Leslie Schous, President, Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association
            Richard Des Lauriers, President, Union of Postal Communications Employees,   Public Service Alliance of Canada