Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to make an initial comment.
I am not sure we have to limit exceptional measures to people who have a medical certificate. Some individuals do not necessarily have a disability that entitles them to special permission.
Consider seniors. When there is black ice and it is slippery out, seniors have as much trouble going to pick up their mail from their mailboxes as persons with disabilities. We must not limit ourselves to the idea of a medical certificate. It is initial caution that must be exercised.
We have not done a detailed study of all the options proposed in the brief. However, we can imagine a few of them. For example, if I can rely on what was said, someone mentioned earlier that Canada Post was anticipating an accumulated operating loss of approximately $700 million over the next 10 years.
At same time, if I remember correctly, the same document stated that alternate day delivery would save $75 million a year. We already have a solution. I am not saying we need a single solution, but this shows that there are ways to do something. This is not the only one, and we should be careful.
We are not proposing that it be this way everywhere. However, there are ways to take action. It is important that seniors receive the home delivery services of a letter every other day rather than have none at all. We have to take a look at the major difference between the two options.
There are also opportunities to consider. For example, I live in a building where there are a number of apartments. Two years ago, Canada Post offered to provide us with parcel boxes. The idea was that the letter carrier who delivered letters could also deliver small parcels and even fairly large parcels. People could thus receive parcels at the same time as letters. However, that was not done. We had to call to request the parcel box, but we never received it. I assume that would be much more efficient.
The letter carrier currently deliver letters, and someone else comes and delivers parcels two or three hours later. These are not large parcels, but rather small parcels. However, this could be done in a single operation. So savings can be made in this area.
A little earlier we talked about cities such as Halifax that have an urban area that is different from the rural areas. We did not look at the details of the solutions to be considered.
In conclusion, I would like to add to what Ms. Gagnon said on this point. The Hon. Jane Philpott (Minister of Health) recently focused on the need for home care. However, you cannot simultaneously encourage home care and reduce services.
