Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My question concerns consumer services.
I live in a rural area. The people in my region often tell me the problem is that the post office is open only from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. People need services. They work and they drop their children off at the day care centre at 7:30 in the morning and get home at 5:30 in the evening. In fact, they are able go to the post office only on the days when they are sick.
Canada Post has lost a certain amount of trust, and consumers are trying other ways to receive their mail. They are turning to the private sector. This is often said, but we are not the ones who decide. It would probably be easier to have post offices open from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. from time to time in order to have that contact with consumers. In that way, post offices could provide more services. The consumers who might need those services are not those 55 years of age and over, but rather those who are 30 to 55 years old and who keep the economy running. So even if we added other services and offices, they would not be able to get there.
What do you think about that?