• Canada Post, Mental Health, and YOU

We are all aware that Mental Health is Canada Post's cause of choice. We have all been asked – repeatedly – to try and get our customers to spend an extra dollar on a book of stamps and have that dollar go to that cause. We are encouraged to allow Canada Post to deduct a regular donation from our paycheques in order to fund the cause. We are asked to shine a light on Mental Health and bring it out into the open.

Let me tell you a story about how Canada Post supports – or does NOT support – its own employees who have mental health issues in their own families. Let me tell you about a long-time employee of Canada Post – a Postmaster with a record of long and wonderful service - who asked her employer for FOUR DAYS of Special Leave in order to take her child to the U.S. where he just MIGHT be able to enter a program to help him with an autism-related condition. (There are no such services in Canada). This employee had less than 48 hours to present him at this facility or lose the moment and this was not an opportunity that would likely come along again. She made her flight reservations and then asked for FOUR DAYS of Special Leave in order to present him there for assessment. FOUR DAYS to travel across the continent, have her child assessed, and return to work. Her request was denied because she had made her flight reservations before getting the okay from Canada Post to take the time. And so her case was brought to the attention of Moya Greene herself – she whose choice it was to adopt Mental Health as Canada Post's cause. And again, in time, the request – from an EMPLOYEE of this company – for such a small bit of help – such a tiny light in the dark – was denied. At some point, should we not wonder how much of Canada Post's commitment to Mental Health is just talk? Should charity not begin at home? Should we not look after family first?

Don't get me wrong. Mental Health is a very valid cause and your donations – however they arrive at that foundation – are greatly needed and appreciated. But do you want Canada Post to be your voice when you give that donation? Remember that when you signed up for that automatic deduction, they said you could stop it at any time...

• CPPA Response to the Canada Post Strategic Review Committee Recommendations

The Advisory Panel notes the intensity of interest in postal issues in rural Canada. The Advisory Panel believes that the government needs to clarify its expectations in the this area to Canada Post and should subsequently communicate them to all Canadians.

Advisory Panel: In order to eliminate confusion and anxiety, it is recommended that the government explicitly declare that the rural post is part of Canada Post's USO , and not a public policy objective outside the USO.

CPAA: CPAA supports the recommendation to have a public document which clearly defines the Government of Canada policy on the obligations and responsibilities that the Canada Post Corporation has to rural Canada. A clear, public statement that rural postal service is one of the core responsibilities of Canada Post would decrease rural Canadian's concern of further erosion to their postal service.

Advisory Panel: The Advisory Panel notes that the definition of rural applied by Canada Post in relation to its rural post office and delivery networks is oudated. The Advisory Panel recommends that a more realistic definition of rural be established initially as "communties with a population of 10,000 or less".

CPAA: CPAA notes that the Advisory Panel recommendation appears to be similar to a generic definition of rural offered by Statistics Canada which is "the population living in towns and municipalities outside the commuting zone of larger urban centres (i.e. outside the commuting zone of centres with population of 10,000 or more)." Statistics Canada also recognizes that not one definition of "rural" would be appropriate for all purposes. "We strongly suggest that the appropriate definition should be determined by the question being addressed." CPAA suggests that a more appropriate definition for the purposes of postal service would be to differentiate rural Post Offices from urban Post Offices by the way customer's mail is delivered. Rural Post Offices could be those commuities where the customers receive their mail at the Post Office or via Rural Mail Carrier service. In Contrast, urban communities could be those where customer's mail is delivered via Letter Carrier to the customer's door or to neighbourhood boxes.

Advisory Panel: The Advisory Panel believes that a review of the rural post office moratorium is overdue, given that much has changed in many parts of rural Canada since the 1998 Framework was adopted. The Panel recommends that the definition of rural described above be applied to the current rural moratorium list to remove those communities from the list that are clearly urban in nature. Specific examples of those identified include: Abbotsford, British Columbia; Lethbridge, Alberta; Timmins, Ontario; Boucherville, Quebec; and Moncton, New Brunswick. This will allow future discussion and actions to be focused exclusively on truly rural communities and allow Canada Post to provide services in these urban centres as they would in any community of equivalent size and character in the rest of Canada, as is prescribed in the Canada Post Corporation Act.

CPAA: The Original intent of the Moratorium was to protect rural and small town Post Offices in Canada. CPAA does not suppport the notion that the Moratorium should be abandoned simply because there are a few urban sites on the list of protected communities. CPAA believes that the Moratorium should be upheld until consensus on a suitable replacement for the Moratorium has been developed, through meaningful consultation involving all stakeholders (i.e. Government of Canada, Canada Post, customer representatives, local municipal council representatives and employee representatives).

Advisory Panel: The Advisory Panel recommends that a new and more explicit mechanism be developed to replace the moratorium with a clear set of rules and procedural guidelines that would both safeguard and respect the postal service needs of rural Canada, but also allow Canada Post a degree of flexibility to deal with emergent issues in providing postal services in rural areas.

CPAA: CPAA supports the notion that postal service to rural communities should be protected by a directive from the Government of Canada. Many of the 1,496 Post Offices closed between 1986 and 1994 were replaced with private outlets. Many of those private outlets have since closed, leaving communities without local postal services. Further privatization of rural Post Offices should not be one of the options included in the Corporation's "flexibility to deal with emergent issues...in rural areas".

Advisory Panel:The Panel believes that all parties-rural communities, rural postal outlet users, Canada Post, and the Government of Canada - would benefit from the specific inclusion of rural services in the USO. The Panel recommends that complementary details be included in the Service Charter to further delineate what the government expects Canada Post to continue to support, with respect to rural posts, over the long term. This would include specific reference to the minimum number and location of rural postal outlets, the access/service levels to be provided to rural Canadians and the process to be followed where post office closings, rationalizations or transitions are contemplated.

CPAA: CPAA suggests that future post office closings, rationalizations or transitions should be subject to joint approval of the local Municipal Council and the Member of Parliament for that riding. Removal of postal sevice from a small community is a major reduction to the community's infrastructure. Rural Post Offices are often the only federal Goverment presence in rural communities.

Advisory Panel: It is further recommended that these specific obligations be developed more fully by Canada Post through a meaninful consultative process involving rural Canadians, with its conclusions and the resulting approach being clearly explained and subsequently made publicly available via Canada Post's website after approval by the goverment.

CPAA: CPAA supports the notion of meaningful consultation with rural Canadians to define the obligations that Canada Post has to rural communities. CPAA suggests that the role of the Canada Post Corporation should be that of a participant (rather than facilitator) in those consultations. CPAA suggests that those consultations should also include representatives of special interest groups, municipal governments, the federal government and employee representatives.

Advisory Panel: As well, it is recommended that the rural obligations required through the USO and the proposed Service Charter be subsequently included and fully reflected in Canada Post's business and corporate plans.

CPAA: CPAA supports the recommendation of fully reflecting the Corporation's obligation to Canadians in the business and corporate plans.

Advisory Panel: The proposed proximity-based appproach to rural services discussed in Part II is intended to be considered in conjunction with this recommendation.

CPAA: CPAA opposes the notion of using proximity-based service criteria to select which rural communities will retain their Post Office. Rural communities need to maintain basic services for their residents in order for the community to remain viable and competitive. Removing a basic service like the Post Office could jeopardize the future of a community.

Advisory Panel: In the spirit of balancing the USO with financial self-sustainability, and taking into consideration the evolving character of rural communities, lifestyles, and modes of transportation and communication, the Advisory Panel recommends that Canada Post proactively counsult with rural communities, where opportunities are identified, with a view to reviewing and identifying alternative modes of delivery and access to the network that would serve community needs equally well and make Canada Post more financially self-sufficient.

CPAA: CPAA is concerned that adoption of the above recommendation may result in decreasing service levels in order to increase profits.

The Canada Post Corporation has been financially self-sufficient since its creation in 1982. Further, the Corporation has been required to pay the federal Government annual dividends since 1989.

CPAA believes that the Government of Canada should demonstrate that customer service in rural Post Offices is a higher prioirity than the Corporation's financial performance by amending the calculation of annual divedends to allow sufficient resources to fulfill all of the USO obligations.

Advisory Panel: The Advisory Panel recommends that Canada Post be permitted to use privately owned dealer outlets as a service delivery option in rural Canada, where established proximity and service criteria are fully met and maintained and where it is cost-effective to do so.

CPAA: CPAA does not support using private outlets to replace Corporate Post Offices.

Many of the 1,496 Post Offices closed between 1986 and 1994 were replaced with private outlets. many of those private outlets have since closed leaving communities without local postal service. Privatization of rural Post Offices is an experiment that failed and should not be repeated.

Urban Canadians have greater access to various Federal Government departments than their rural counterparts. CPAA believes that the current network of corporate Post Offices should be maintained and further leveraged as a "window" to additional federal services to ensure equal access for all Canadians.

The Advisory Panel: The Advisory Panel recommends Canada Post specifically include in the annual report an overview on the delivery methods it uses, indication the number of addresses served with each delivery method and the financial costs and environmental impact of each on a per-unit basis.

CPAA: CPAA believes that delivery methods should be determined by service considerations as well as cost and environmental impact.

The Advisory Panel: The Advisory Panel recommends Canada Post specifically include in its annual report an overview on this delivery methods it uses, indicating the number of addresses served with each delivery method and the financial costs and environmental impact of each on a per-unit basis.

CPAA: CPAA believes that delivery methods should be determined by service considerations as well as cost and environmental impact.

The Advisory Panel: The Advisory Panel recommends that the ongoing viability of end-of-lane deliveries ( also known as rural roadside mailbox delivery) be reconsidered where potential traffic safety concerns exist as indicated through Canada Post's ongoing rural traffice safety review. These concerns are of particular importance when the deliveries take place on routes served by roads where the posted speed limit is 80 km/h or higher.

CPAA: CPAA supports the concept of increasing the safety of employees and customers.

The Advisory Panel: The Advisory Panel recommends that Canada Post create or maintain advisory postal councils to connect policy and decision making with the Canadian public. These councils could include: A national advisory council for Canada Post ( currently in place) to gauge future trends and developments; A major postal users council; A rural postal council; and A small and medium-sized enterprises council.

CPAA: CPAA supports the recommendation to establish a rural postal council. The composition of this council should include representatives appointed by the Corporation, customers, municipal government, employee groups and any other stakeholders.