Government Operations Committee on Oct. 7th, 2016

Evidence of meeting #41 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 services.

On the agenda

Canada Post

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Bernard Brun Director, Government Relations, Desjardins Group

David Mourinet Director, Administrative Services Directorate , Desjardins Group

Maurice Quesnel Director General, Chambre de commerce Baie-des-Chaleurs

Dany Harvey President, Coopérative d'habitation Ludovica

Richard St-Onge President, Regional Council, Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec

François Senneville National Director, Quebec Region, Canadian Union of Postal Workers

Jean-François Simard As an Individual

Vincent Lambert As an Individual

3 p.m.

Liberal

Joël Lightbound Liberal Louis-Hébert, QC

On the question of postal banking, more specifically, that is an idea that I too like quite a bit. It is done all over the world, with quite good results. Even apart from postal banking, when we look at North Dakota, there is a bank that is owned by the government that has a somewhat more social role to play. It helps farmers, primarily, but it also offers student loans at much lower cost than elsewhere in the United States. I think the postal banking system could have a more social role. I am wondering whether you had seen any openness to that kind of idea on the part of management over the years?

3 p.m.

National Director, Quebec Region, Canadian Union of Postal Workers

François Senneville

The present relationship between the union and the employer goes back to the beginning of the discussions about postal banking. Those discussions took place in the media and among the public.

There was also a study that we never had access to, that set the tone at the outset. Today, still, we do not know exactly what is in that study. It contains conclusions and we would have to buy them. It is somewhat frustrating, particularly when you know that the corporation you are working for paid for the study. Why can we not have access to it? If the conclusions are so negative, why can we not have access to it?

There is essentially no discussion about postal banking at present. I can tell you that if we could, we would have some.

3 p.m.

Liberal

Joël Lightbound Liberal Louis-Hébert, QC

It is starting, in any event. There is more and more interest in this idea of banking.

3 p.m.

National Director, Quebec Region, Canadian Union of Postal Workers

François Senneville

Yes, but they are efforts.

3 p.m.

Liberal

Joël Lightbound Liberal Louis-Hébert, QC

They are efforts, yes. Thank you very much.

3 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Tom Lukiwski

Gentlemen, thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you for taking time out of your extremely busy schedules.

Should any of you have any additional information that you wish to share with committee members for our deliberations, please submit them directly to our clerk. I would ask, if you do have submissions, that you try to get them to our clerk within the next two weeks, because we will be drafting a report that will be tabled in Parliament based on the information we have heard across the country. That report will probably be tabled in the latter part of November or early December.

Thank you once again.

The meeting is adjourned.