Letter to Stéphane Dion - Re: Liberal support for partial deregulation of Canada Post and other policies and positions relating to our public post office

Stéphane Dion
Leader, Liberal Party
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A OA6

Dear Mr. Dion:

Re: Liberal support for partial deregulation of Canada Post and other policies and positions relating to our public post office

I am writing to thank you for responding to two of my questions about policies and positions in regard to our public post office, and to raise concerns about one of your positions.

You have indicated that it is the Liberal Party’s “intent to support the continued operations of international re-mailers within Canada” but that “the Liberal Party does not support the deregulation and privatization of Canada Post.”

I would like to point out that your support for international mailers is likely to lead to a partial deregulation of Canada Post. The government needs your party’s support to do what international mailers want, that is, remove international letters from Canada Post’s exclusive privilege to deliver letters. If this happens, international remailers will continue to siphon off Canada Post’s lettermail volumes and revenues, thus eroding the post office’s ability to provide service in remote and rural areas. Canada Post President Moya Greene recently told a parliamentary committee that international mailers siphon off $60 to $80 million dollars per year in business. The big problem is that the remail business appears to be growing in leaps and bounds and will, with very large remailers like Spring and Keymail, dramatically erode the lettermail revenue that funds universal service. I have enclosed a recent decision from the Court of Appeal of Ontario that speaks to this issue.

As you know, the government seems intent on partially deregulating Canada Post even though it has done virtually nothing to investigate or study this issue. The government has been promising to investigate or review the “problems” facing international remailers for about a year. I understand that the Standing Committee on Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities has now recommended that the government issue a directive to Canada Post to cease its legal actions against large corporate remailers who are violating the law until the Committee has “the opportunity of reviewing the matter and formulating recommendations to the government and Canada Post” in regard to Section 14 of the Canada Post Corporation Act (the section outlining the exclusive privilege). It appears that the government would like members of your party on board as it prepares to partially deregulate Canada Post (i.e. remove international letters from Canada Post’s exclusive privilege to deliver letters).

We hope that the Liberal Party will thoroughly review and ultimately reconsider its support for international mailers as this support could very well set the stage for the unravelling of universal postal service.

As well, we would like to request the Liberal Party’s position on the two remaining issues outlined in our letter dated November 1, 2006 (see attached). The issues in question relate to rural delivery and the government’s financial and policy framework for Canada Post. We look forward to hearing from you.

Please note that I have sent a similar letter to Liberal post office critic, Borys Wrzesnewskyj.

Yours truly,

Deborah Bourque
National President

Encl.

 

c.c.

CUPW locals
National Executive Committee
Regional Executive Committees
National Union Representatives
Regional Union Representatives
Specialists
Moya Greene, Canada Post President
Liberal members of Parliament