Evidence of meeting #47 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 service.
Executive Vice-President, Canadian Labour Congress
We've been pushing for this in consultations that the postal workers have—I used to have the environment file when I was there—and it could be a fleet of vehicles or retrofitting the post offices. If you look at the “Delivering Community Power” booklet that's been put out, there are more postal outlets than Tim Hortons out there. There could be solar panels on the roof.
There are tons of examples there that would lead to achieving the obligations of this country under the COP21 Paris agreement.
NDP
Erin Weir NDP Regina—Lewvan, SK
Thank you.
I have a question for SARM. A concern we've heard at a number of locations is that Canada Post does not provide standardized parcel rates across the country. The price really varies depending on the region it's being sent from and the region it's being sent to. I'm wondering if that's of concern to your members or to your residents.
Shelley Kilbride Director, Policy and Research, Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities
That's not something we heard from our membership when we spoke to them about Canada Post service.
I think the primary concern is about whether or not we will maintain that level of service in those rural communities. Currently our membership, as in other communities, still uses other types of parcel delivery service as well, when necessary. That has a lot to do with timing and hours that the businesses are open. I'm sure they'd be willing to pay, and would continue to pay, varying rates depending on their location as long as they could coordinate with the timing of the post offices being open.
Conservative
Liberal
Yasmin Ratansi Liberal Don Valley East, ON
Thank you very much.
Thank you for all your input.
I was putting things into perspective, and I realized, Ms. Button, that the city of Regina has 145 square kilometres with a population of 221,000. That's what Wikipedia says. My riding—just my riding—is 14 square kilometres with a population of 221,000. I'm trying to see how we collectively can find solutions. It's not one size fits all. How do we find solutions that are good for the country, good for the economy of Regina, good for everyone?
First, how many of your residents used to have door-to-door delivery?
President, Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association
I'm not from Regina.
President, Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association
Sean lived here, so maybe he can answer.
Director, Policy and Communications, Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association
Answer about Weyburn.
President, Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association
I can answer about Weyburn, maybe, a little better.
I don't know the square kilometre distance from corner to corner for Weyburn. It's a small city of 11,000, and we have one postal office, the main one, and then we have the one in Pharmasave. We have postal service delivery probably to.... It's probably bigger than 60 square kilometres. I'm not sure about our door-to-door delivery, but as we were going through the process, I did know that, and what the community mailbox delivers to.
I'm sorry, but—
President, Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association
No, it was a demotion, but thank you.
Liberal
Director, Policy and Communications, Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association
From the Regina perspective, I can't give you exact figures on door-to-door delivery, but I can tell you about my experience within the city, as a resident.
All new divisions within the City of Regina are designed with the concept of the community mailbox, and with the past years of tremendous growth around the city, you would have seen a number of those locations created.
I live in a portion of the city in an older neighbourhood that was built in the 1970s. If Canada Post came to the city and wanted to put a community mailbox in my neighbourhood, then there probably would be the planning provisions for that to occur from an urban design perspective.
There are other neighbourhoods within the city—Cathedral is a prime example that people from Regina would know—where from an urban planning perspective it would be extremely challenging to put in a community mailbox.
Liberal
Yasmin Ratansi Liberal Don Valley East, ON
Thank you.
You say there were consultations before they put in their mailboxes, but you also mentioned that there should be some respect for municipalities. Was there any time where there was no respect, or were you even caught off guard?
President, Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association
From my perspective, no, we were not.
We were having good discussions, and the discussions that we were starting to have were to make sure there was adequate snow removal, that those ad flyers weren't going to be lying on the ground, that garbage was going to be picked up, and that the areas where they put those community mailboxes were aesthetically pleasing. There are some character neighbourhoods, and we don't want to have an eyesore.
Liberal
President, Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association
In our new areas where we have the community mailboxes, it is not a big issue. Snow removal is an issue sometimes, because they don't seem to remember about it.
Liberal
President, Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association
Would I like to charge a levy to Canada Post?
Liberal
Yasmin Ratansi Liberal Don Valley East, ON
Think about it, because this is costing your municipality.
President, Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association
Yes, it is a cost if we have to go in and clean up the area, but that remains to be seen by us in the older neighbourhoods of Weyburn. Right now, I don't believe we've had.... I've been mayor for 10 years and I've had no complaints about the community mailbox locations or the cleanliness of them.
