Letter to Mario Laframboise - Re: Attempts to Privatize or Deregulate Canada Post

BY EMAIL AND MAIL

 

Mario Laframboise
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A OA6

 

Re: Attempts to Privatize or Deregulate Canada Post

 

Dear Mr. Laframboise:

The fight we have been expecting to privatize, deregulate or change the mandate of Canada Post is upon us.

Canada Post’s competition and conservative forces have been working overtime on undermining our public post office since the Tories were elected.

I am sending you a copy of the bulletin CUPW issued on the international mailer issue and the recent CD Howe Institute report calling for privatization, deregulation and a variety of measures to deal with CUPW (See pages 17-22). Please note that the CD Howe Institute report was issued in English only. CUPW will be translating the report and sending a translated version to you as soon as possible.  

I am also sending you some additional background information on the remail issue.

As you know, the union is very eager to have the Bloc Quebecois's position on privatization and deregulation as well as the other issues we identified in our letter dated November 1, 2006, so that we can provide CUPW members with all the facts come an election.

 

Papers on deregulation

I am also enclosing a paper the union produced called ' Postal Deregulation: Its Impact on Postal Workers and the Response of a Postal Union.'  This paper was presented at the Rutger's 2005 Postal Economics and Delivery Conference in Geneva. It addresses the following questions pertaining to deregulation.

1. What have the experts said about the role of the exclusive privilege in Canada and the likely consequences of deregulation?
2. Are there lessons that can be learned from existing experiences with postal liberalization?
3. What would the impact of postal deregulation in Canada be on employees, the postal service, customers and the public?
4. How should the union respond to the prospect of deregulation?

The union's paper contains ten compelling reasons to oppose deregulation of postal services.

 

Positions on privatization and deregulation

The government says it has no plans to privatize Canada Post, and Canada Post President Moya Greene says she is ' not aware of any changes on the part of the government with respect to its ownership of Canada Post.'

The government has not made a similar statement regarding deregulation. It has informed the union that 'no changes to Canada Post's exclusive privilege would be considered without thorough policy analysis. As you are aware, the Canada Post Corporation Act defines Canada Post's exclusive privilege; thus, any changes to that privilege would require legislative amendment and public debate in Parliament.'

Greene has dodged questions about whether she has had discussions with the government about this issue. She has also dismissed the importance of the exclusive privilege by saying things like, 'The remaining lettermail monopoly is more illusion than reality.”

You can get more information on what Canada Post and the government are saying and the CUPW's fight to stop closures, privatization and deregulation on the union’s website at: http://www.publicpostoffice.ca.

We look forward to hearing from you on these very important matters.

Yours truly,

Deborah Bourque
National President

 

Encl.

c.c.       National Executive Committee, Regional Executive Committees, National Union Representatives, Regional Union Representatives, Specialists

Gilles Duceppe, Leader, Bloc Quebecois