Evidence of meeting #9 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was business.

A video is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Deepak Chopra  President and Chief Executive Officer, Head Office, Canada Post
David Stewart-Patterson  Vice-President, Public Policy, Conference Board of Canada
Denis Lemelin  National President, Canadian Union of Postal Workers
John Anderson  Research Associate, National Office, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Robert Campbell  President and Vice-Chancellor, Mount Allison University, As an Individual
Bob Brown  Member, Transportation Committee, Council of Canadians with Disabilities
Roy Hanes  Member, Social Policy Committee, Council of Canadians with Disabilities
Benjamin Dachis  Senior Policy Analyst, C.D. Howe Institute
Daniel Kelly  President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Federation of Independent Business

December 18th, 2013 / 4 p.m.

Conservative

Gordon O'Connor Conservative Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON

Mr. Dachis, in the Canada Post plan, in one of the areas, they talk about their pension. It says:

As of December 31, 2012, the Plan is fully funded on a going-concern basis, which means it is currently able to pay all benefits as they become due. However, the Plan has a solvency deficit of approximately $6.5 billion on a market-value basis.

Does the post office have a problem in funding their pension or not?

4 p.m.

Senior Policy Analyst, C.D. Howe Institute

Benjamin Dachis

Absolutely, and I can get into more existential questions about the proper way to value the future liabilities, but it's pretty clear that if you look at that pension solvency deficit, that is what they are legally required to fill, and they have received special permission from the federal government to defer those payments. The payments they need to put in are on the order of about $2.5 billion.

4 p.m.

Conservative

Gordon O'Connor Conservative Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON

But they can pay their bills, as they see it, into the future right now?

4 p.m.

Senior Policy Analyst, C.D. Howe Institute

Benjamin Dachis

That is based on special federal government permission to defer the payments they need to pay to cover that pension solvency deficit.

4 p.m.

Conservative

Gordon O'Connor Conservative Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON

I'll ask Mr. Kelly a quick question.

Mr. Kelly, one of the things you mentioned you would reluctantly accept is community mailboxes. How are we going to put community boxes in the cities when you have house after house and store after store with no space? How do you imagine we're going to put all these mailboxes in there?

4 p.m.

President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Federation of Independent Business

Daniel Kelly

Look, it's not an option we're in love with. It was an option business owners said they could live with. Where Canada Post is going to find the space is a question that I haven't a sweet clue about answering.

I do understand that the community mailboxes, for the most part, will not affect businesses, as we've been told, and that business service will still be direct to the small business, for the most part, I think, because of volumes.

As for community mailboxes, quite frankly, as a consumer, I'm looking forward to them, because I'm away a lot and it's probably a good thing not having the mail pile up at my house in Toronto.

4 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Larry Miller

Okay, thank you.

Gentlemen, to all of you, thanks very much for joining us here today. I wish you all a merry Christmas, and we have appreciated your time here.

For the members and all the staff who came here today and for anyone else in the audience, I just want to wish everyone a very merry Christmas. We'll see everybody back here in the new year.

The meeting is adjourned.