Evidence of meeting #28 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 post.
11 a.m.
Liberal
Ramez Ayoub Liberal Thérèse-De Blainville, QC
I would suggest that delivery, which is daily, be done every two or three days.
11 a.m.
Director General, Confédération des organismes de personnes handicapées du Québec
We are suggesting that as an alternative solution.
We currently receive mail every day, but we could get it a little less frequently, provided the schedule was regular. It could be Tuesdays and Thursdays, for example. The schedule would always be the same. We have not conducted any studies on the subject, but we are proposing that as an alternative to complete elimination of the service. Canada Post could find other delivery contracts, for groceries or something else. Other organizations make deliveries.
11 a.m.
Liberal
Ramez Ayoub Liberal Thérèse-De Blainville, QC
Thank you, Mr. Lavigne.
Madam Hutchison, do you have anything?
11 a.m.
President, DisAbled Women's Network Canada
Basically, the Council of Canadians with Disabilities thought that was a suitable compromise, and DisAbled Women’s Network Canada agrees with this compromise to have the mail delivery decreased to being on maybe Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
I was exploring one of the proposed options in the CUPW submission, in which they were talking about increasing evening and weekend delivery. I also think that might be a good alternative when we have so much unemployment, to reverse the lens and think about that as an alternative as well. Thinking about some of those outside-of-the-box possibilities would be another alternative.
I look at the amount of youth unemployment and the amount of different kinds of unemployment, and I look at the fact that small communities have less employment, and I challenge some of our legislators to think that those might be solutions in smaller communities, to stimulate the economy by providing services to people with disabilities. Our needs don't change. No matter what the energy industry is doing, we have the same needs, no matter what the economy does.
11 a.m.
Liberal
Ramez Ayoub Liberal Thérèse-De Blainville, QC
Thank you, Ms. Hutchison.
Mr. Defour, Ms. Pelletier, would you like to speak?
11 a.m.
Former President, Seniors Action Quebec
I certainly can address this. I've had a hip replaced. I'm a senior. I'm waiting for two knees to be done. I can tell you I have a community mailbox. I live in Vaudreuil-Dorion in a new development. I can also express that people living in rural Quebec do currently have mail delivery, but if that were ever to be cut, they would be limited to needing a vehicle. There's no bus service in most of these regions. How do they get there? They're relying on family and friends.
I can tell you that around the box there is a bit of a slope. If it's icy and even if there's lots of snow and it's not cleared, it packs and becomes slippery. It is definitely a physical security issue.
11 a.m.
Liberal
Ramez Ayoub Liberal Thérèse-De Blainville, QC
Do you have any experience with the services to improve your own delivery, because your needs—
11 a.m.
Former President, Seniors Action Quebec
I actually just found out that I could phone and ask for home delivery service. I asked what the process was, because I was testing the system.
11 a.m.
Former President, Seniors Action Quebec
I just called the toll-free number on the Canada Post site, and I tell you, you go through so many capsules it's unbelievable. If you're a senior and you don't have a computer, and all you keep hearing is that they recommend that you go to www.canadapost.ca or whatever the heck it is, you would give up. But I stayed on. I actually got to speak to an individual who couldn't answer me. I asked, “Do I require a medical certificate?”, and he said—
11:05 a.m.
Liberal
Ramez Ayoub Liberal Thérèse-De Blainville, QC
Thank you, Madam Pelletier. I need to interrupt a little bit because I have another question. I have only seven minutes. I'm sorry.
Mr. Ratnani, you're in business. I would like you to explain to us the proportion of business that you're doing right here in Montreal, and whether you send some packages from Montreal. I hope so. Do you also send some packages from the U.S. in your business?
11:05 a.m.
Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder, Frank + Oak
Everything is shipped from Montreal.
11:05 a.m.
Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder, Frank + Oak
Actually, we ship everything from Montreal, but it goes everywhere in North America, and Canada Post is our main partner in shipping.
11:05 a.m.
Liberal
Ramez Ayoub Liberal Thérèse-De Blainville, QC
How many packages a week are you sending? Do you have an idea?
11:05 a.m.
Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder, Frank + Oak
It's tens of thousands a month.
11:05 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tom Lukiwski
Thank you very much.
Mr. McCauley, go ahead for seven minutes, please.
11:05 a.m.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Thank you very much for your presentations. You are remarkably well spoken. I appreciate it. I have just a couple of quick questions.
Mr. Ayoub, we've discussed Canada Post doing a once-a-week delivery for the disabled. Last week when we spoke to Canada Post, it said, “We do have the system set up.” It acknowledged that it needs to do a much better job of advertising it, because I was not aware until about a week ago that it does this.
If it gets it right and gets it working properly, is this a solution for those who have the community mailboxes? My understanding is that it delivers every day to the box and then once a week it will take it to the home. If it does a proper job consulting and makes it easy to access for the disabled, will this work, in your opinion?
11:05 a.m.
President, DisAbled Women's Network Canada
This is the first I've heard about it, and I find that highly—
11:05 a.m.
President, DisAbled Women's Network Canada
No. It's the first I've heard about it, and I live in a town that doesn't have mail delivery. I live in a town with a rural post office. Nobody has home delivery. You have to go and get it. So I'll test this theory out.
11:05 a.m.
Director General, Confédération des organismes de personnes handicapées du Québec
That is what I hear too. Once a week is not much, but it is better than nothing.
The problem that arises is to determine how those people who are entitled to this service will recognized. I explained in my presentation that a doctor's certificate would be necessary, but that you would have to pay the doctor to obtain the certificate. What would a person who does not have a doctor do? How can Canada Post have the expertise to determine whether a person is disabled enough? One finds it hard to believe it has that kind of expertise. If it does, we would like to know about it.
In Quebec at least, the health and social services system is experiencing problems. There are waiting lists and so on. I take a dim view of that. Ultimately, this may be good, but how would we go about determining who is entitled to what? Decisions may be based on something other than the actual situation of the individuals in question. If there is only one person with disabilities in a given neighbourhood, would there be a temptation to say that ultimately that person is not really disabled? Who will monitor this? Will there be an appeal mechanism if an individual does not agree with a decision?
11:05 a.m.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
We are not here to set that, but I think the idea is that the recommendation would be for Canada Post to talk to associations like your own to work this out. Obviously, it can't be just someone saying, “I want home delivery; I don't feel like going out.” There has to be a simple solution with buy-in from the various groups, such as your own, which is why it is so great to have you here.