Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Tremblay-Pepin's presentation was very good. I am sorry but I must admit I am not as well-prepared as he is. I have not even read the report because I did not receive it. I did not know why I was here until two or three minutes ago, but I am beginning to understand. I will not be using Mr. Tremblay-Pepin's extensive vocabulary, and I do not know how to address you because this is the first time I have been involved in a parliamentary committee. I am nevertheless very pleased to be here.
I represent the e-commerce or digital economy component of Quebec and Canada. I would like to talk to you solely about that component.
I believe Canada Post plays an essential and extremely important role in this area. The digital world is in perpetual motion. Everything is constantly moving more quickly. We talk about accelerating acceleration in our world. When players like Amazon invent delivery in one hour or less, that creates expectations in citizens and consumers.
So people have expectations of Canada Post because the corporation delivers most small parcels. Large parcels are delivered by Purolator, which belongs to Canada Post. The corporation therefore has no choice but to play that role and to provide a service equivalent, or virtually equivalent, to that of Amazon or other such companies. However, I will not go so far as to say that Canada Post should acquire drones because I do not believe in them.
I very briefly took note a little earlier of the recommendations that were made. Community mailboxes were mentioned. That has triggered a debate in Montreal, in particular, with Mayor Coderre. That debate is more amusing than anything else because I think community mailboxes are extremely important.
The reason is simple. People do not want certain parcels to be left at their door. They would like to have them immediately, but sometimes they are not at home. It would be excellent if there were community mailboxes down the street. However, they would have to be equipped with compartments big enough for parcels. That is one of my recommendations. Since I know about the digital world, I think it would be a good idea for this to be connected to our cell phones so that we could be notified by text message that we have received a parcel and that it was delivered to the community mailbox at a specific time of day.
I think alternate day delivery is fine for letter mail but would pose major problems for parcels. In my view, alternate day parcel delivery is shooting oneself in the foot. It should not be recommended. When people order parcels online, they want them right now. It is impossible for certain businesses to deliver parcels in an hour while others deliver them every other day. I think that makes no sense, and we should especially not go in that direction.
As regards e-commerce, I think the synergies with Purolator are already excellent. The markets are clearly separated. Purolator handles heavy parcels and commerce between businesses, whereas Canada Post deals with light parcels and the business-to-consumer segment.
Now I will talk about advertising sales in the retail sector. I imagine we are talking about advertising on Canada Post's trucks and mailboxes. I think that is already being done. For the past four years, I have been a judge for the Canada Post e-commerce innovation awards competition. I have been a judge for four years, but the competition has been going on for five. Many awards go to Canadian businesses, particularly for free parcel shipping. Every year, the awards range between $50,000 and $100,000, which is enormous for a business.
There is also advertising on Canada Post trucks. I think one of the recommendations has already been implemented, at least as a result of the competition. Canada Post provides visibility on its trucks and mailboxes.
The idea of "last-mile" delivery is extremely interesting. I am in favour of Canada Post moving forward with that because when the UPSs and FedExes of the world deliver a parcel to a home but no one is there, that person must travel five kilometers to pick it up.
I will conclude by saying that we are talking about the digital shift right now, and Canada Post Corporation must embrace it. It is making that transition to the digital world—and doing it very well— but now it must do it internally and establish a culture of innovation and a digital culture.
Thank you.