Evidence of meeting #38 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 business.
10:40 a.m.
Executive Director, Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce
Yes, it is a challenge, and I think it speaks to the weight that the business community puts on Canada Post and its importance to all Canadians.
To your point about short-term subsidization, I think our observation in the report is that there are short-term, immediate concerns around the obligations to the pension plan, and then there are some long-term, serious concerns that we need a real-time solution for, as this is a process—
10:40 a.m.
Executive Director, Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce
In the short term, how do we—
10:40 a.m.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Would you consider a short-term price bump in the cost of stamps, then, or a cost of service, if it's to get over a two year...and then some of it would be clawed back?
10:40 a.m.
Executive Director, Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce
I haven't seen the price of stamps go back down. That's the only concern.
10:40 a.m.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Things never go back down.
Ms. McGuire, what do you think the people you represent place more importance on with Canada Post: reliability, or a one- or two-day delay? We've seen some polling that says everyone wants it tomorrow for free, but it's fine if it's going to be there in two or three days. I'd rather know it's going to be there in two or three days for sure, rather than maybe tomorrow.
Ms. MacDonald, what do you place more importance on, greater reliability or a one- or two-day difference?
10:40 a.m.
Owner, Milk & Amber
I'd say that people would definitely prioritize reliability. That is something that I've personally noticed. I've spoken to other people about this, and they've noticed that over the past few years, they have seen a rise in lost or broken packages, which usually has to come out of a business person's pocket. I would say reliability. As long as you can count on it getting there, then one to two days extra is....
10:40 a.m.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Who else have you used as alternatives to Canada Post for parcels? Is it like a UPS? Why is it Canada Post? Is it a cost issue?
10:40 a.m.
Executive Director, Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce
We, being a chamber attached to the national network of chambers, work with both Purolator and UPS. We do offer benefits to our members through that network.
10:40 a.m.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
For parcel delivery. You mentioned that 60% of your business was going down to the States.
10:45 a.m.
Owner, Milk & Amber
I guess I have lots of good reasons. It's out of principle, to support a national service.
10:45 a.m.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Would you continue using something even if it costs more, out of principle? You mentioned that pricing is obviously very important.
10:45 a.m.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Over the summer there was the threat of service disruption from Canada Post. I got the emails. My wife has a private business. She got the letters. I got the nagging from the bank that I would still have pay, etc. We've heard from some people that those notices were sent out to try to drive business down and to hurt Canada Post. I look at it as more of an important message, a heads-up. Did you get those notices?
10:45 a.m.
Owner, Milk & Amber
I did. I did see it as a communication and not as something trying to influence my view of the service. However, I do feel as though some of their members did feel that way. They felt that that particular communication was not done to inspire confidence.
10:45 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tom Lukiwski
The final intervenor will be Madam Ratansi, for five minutes, please.
10:45 a.m.
Liberal
Yasmin Ratansi Liberal Don Valley East, ON
Thank you for being here. You give such a nice perspective. Small and medium-sized enterprises are the job creators and add to economic growth, especially the micro-enterprises because students coming out of university say, “Well, what can I do? There are just no jobs available.” Therefore, I'm so glad. As an accountant previously, I used to help small and medium-sized enterprises.
For a quick answer, my question is, what made you think Canada Post was going to be privatized? Somebody thought it was going to be privatized, and I think you said in your statement that we don't want it privatized. It's not going to be privatized—I'm just letting you know. If anybody is asking you questions about competition with Canada Post, it's not a question of privatization, so let's settle that.
We are here to get very creative input from the two of you, from everybody. As small and medium-sized enterprises, you are creative because you face challenges and you have to balance everything. We look at Canada Post, not from the task force perspective, which is just a discussion paper that we park. It's our analysis that will count.
Look at Canada Post and say, yes, letter mail is falling ad mail is increasing, parcels are increasing, other options such as e-post and e-commerce are increasing. If you had the logistical network of Canada Post, if you had its assets—about $7 billion—how would you leverage it? Nobody is even thinking outside the box. Everybody is so restricted within this financial mode, wherein we are being told to think along these lines. As an accountant, I would make you think this line because I would come up with accounting policies. But give me some creative answers. You have so much that is a positive in Canada Post. What are you going to do with it? How would you leverage it to make it better?
10:45 a.m.
Owner, Milk & Amber
Something I've noticed is that there are huge physical or geographical infrastructures, particularly the buildings in which Canada Post is housed. In P.E.I., if you visit any small community, you will notice that there is always a Canada Post. With the decline in the rural population, particularly on the island, sometimes Canada Post is the only business in some communities. I would imagine it's somewhat of a rural hub, so I would think that if there were a way to have something in those physical spaces, whether postal banking or other kinds of sales, that would be a huge opportunity.