Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you for being here this morning, Mrs. Bourque and Mr. Bickerton, thank you for being here this morning. I have three series of questions to ask. I may not be able to ask them all during this round and I might have to come back. They relate to rural service, the IBM study, and the issue of equal treatment.
First of all, I want to raise an issue that is dear to the people I represent since I represent a mainly rural riding. I hope that the good residents of Rimouski will not be offended.
My question relates to the service in rural areas and the way staff is configured. I would like to know if only the people working in post offices are unionized or if people walking the routes are also unionized, as well as the people having contracts to deliver mail on rural routes. Could you give me a brief explanation about that?