Evidence of meeting #125 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was terms.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Chair of the Board of Directors and Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Post Corporation
There are nine board positions, in addition to the CEO and chair, so there are 11 as a whole, but two are spoken for in those positions. All but one of them has an expired term, so eight positions could potentially be reconfirmed or with new board members.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Can you update us on where we are on filling those positions, either in reappointing or in filling them?
Chair of the Board of Directors and Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Post Corporation
As I said in my opening remarks, I expect that the government may announce new board members in the coming days.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Okay.
As chair of the board, what will your oversight or your involvement be in the appointing of new board members?
Chair of the Board of Directors and Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Post Corporation
Just as with the CEO process, I had a role in reviewing the applications that came in from across the country—
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Have you been reviewing or in discussions with the government about either extending the current board or interviewing new board people?
Chair of the Board of Directors and Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Post Corporation
If I could, I'll just answer the question. I was fully involved in the review of—
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
No. I'm talking about the new board people or the extensions, please.
Chair of the Board of Directors and Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Post Corporation
Yes, all the positions that are open were subject to applications and interviews. Those include the ones where there's a potential for an incumbent board member to be reappointed, so what I'm trying to articulate is that I was involved in that as well as the new individuals from across Canada who were applying in the process. I was part of the interview process as well as the initial screening.
Certainly, my thoughts were contributed as part of the final selection committee's views as the letter was submitted to the minister in terms of the list of individuals who she may want to consider in terms of them being qualified and suitable for those positions. At that point, it becomes the minister's and cabinet's decision.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
We do have qualified candidates who are ready to be appointed, correct?
Chair of the Board of Directors and Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Post Corporation
Yes. As I say, I believe the government may appoint in the coming days.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Wonderful. That's good to know.
I'm sure you've read the task force report, “Canada Post in the Digital Age”, as well as the report by the committee—
Chair of the Board of Directors and Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Post Corporation
Yes, on the path forward.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
I hope you read the dissenting report as well.
There were very specific concerns presented by the task force. Are you in agreement with those in the Ernst & Young report on going forward, the finances, and the other issues and recommendations of the task force?
Chair of the Board of Directors and Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Post Corporation
Yes, as I said in my remarks, I have read a lot of the material that came before the committee, as well as the committee's report.
My focus now is on the mandate letter that I've received from the minister. That provides my instructions going forward. I am very much looking forward to moving those directions forward for Canada Post.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
The task force is very specific, though. What Ernst & Young and the task force put forward was that eight years from now, I think, we'll be looking at an operating deficit of three-quarters of a billion dollars and a cash deficit of $3 billion, which is a very stark, difficult issue.
The mandate letter and the instructions from the government don't address any of these financial issues. As chairman of the board, are you concerned with that at all?
Chair of the Board of Directors and Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Post Corporation
I actually feel that there is a lot of opportunity in the mandate letter that I've received from the minister.
Chair of the Board of Directors and Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Post Corporation
Such as defining collaboratively the path forward. The letter speaks to me in terms of some very specific directions, with accessibility being one and improving remittance services being another, for example, but also in terms of working collaboratively to define the path forward.
We've had several years of positive financial results. As I've spoken to, I believe that gives us breathing room to identify the opportunities going forward, both in terms of ensuring that we have a productive and respectful workplace and also in ensuring that we're maintaining and capturing further our position in the competitive landscape of e-commerce.
Given that we do have positive financial results over the past few years and that this trend is anticipated to continue, I think we have both the breathing room and the right foundation to build on.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Thanks.
You say they're “anticipated to continue”. For how long would that be? Are these audited forecasts or are these from...?
Chair of the Board of Directors and Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Post Corporation
Canada Post's financial statements are audited.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Okay. For how long into the future are they anticipated to continue?
The reason I ask is that obviously a lot of it has been the strength of the parcel delivery, but what came up during our extensive review is that Amazon is looking to develop its own delivery service. It's already contracting out in the States and in Canada as well. What is our backup plan if Amazon, which is a huge chunk of your delivery, goes solo? It's the same question for Purolator. We asked the president of Purolator what keeps him up at night, and his comment was, well, nothing—
Liberal
The Vice-Chair Liberal Yasmin Ratansi
Perhaps you can answer that in the next question, because your time is up.
Mr. Masse, you have seven minutes.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Feel free not to answer that question in the next seven minutes.
I thank you. Congratulations on your appointment.
Over the years since I've been elected, I've noticed that in the last number of years there was a non-business case to destroy Canada Post. In fact, the whole move away from door-to-door delivery was based on ideology, not on the actual revenues and returns at Canada Post. There's clearly no doubt that this was the driver, as opposed to actually looking at the operations, what potential changes could be made, and the public value of it.
It also dissuaded the real positive growth aspect that was very evident with door-to-door delivery, which is a growth service that is expected to increase, especially with online purchasing rising. I believe it's at 17% now. That has jumped beyond some expectations but was entirely predictable given what's been taking place.
I apologize for being here a little late. I was at the industry and innovation committee, where we had a press conference for all parties on rural broadband services and moving the digital divide in a positive way from businesses to smaller rural municipalities. I see real potential growth for Canada Post there.
It was really nice to see your privacy background. The first question I want to ask is about the study that Canada Post did on banking. When will that be made public? Why has it not been made public? That's one of the first things, because some of these things are the potential solutions that have been put out there. If we want a new age, we need to see whether or not there's really some value there. If there is, how do we move forward? If there are some challenges, what are they? Given that the public has paid for this study, when will that be provided to them?
Chair of the Board of Directors and Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Post Corporation
Thank you. I know that postal banking has been under a tremendous amount of discussion and continues to be. I know that this committee considered it in depth, including looking at the full report in its own context, coming eventually to the conclusion that Canada Post should focus on its core competencies.
While postal banking is not a specific part of my mandate letter, I do think it's important to note that Canada Post does provide some financial services. I think we need to be very open-minded about any new ideas that can be right for Canada Post and right for its customers, and those could include being in the financial services area.