Ladies and gentlemen and colleagues, I call the meeting to order.
I welcome our panellists. For committee members, I should probably, in the spirit of transparency, let everyone know that Debra Button and I are old friends. Second, I have a long-standing and very cordial relationship with the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities. I promise I won't let those two relationships interfere with my duties. Mr. Lafleur, just to make you feel at ease, although we have never met, my father was the former head of the United Steelworkers of America, so I have quite an extensive union background as well.
Welcome to you all. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to be here.
As you are undoubtedly aware, the minister responsible for Canada Post, the Honourable Judy Foote has engaged and initiated a very extensive consultation process that had two phases to it. Phase one was the establishment of a task force whose job and mandate it was to examine the financial viability and sustainability of Canada Post. They have completed their work. They have tabled their report, and we've had an opportunity as a committee to question them on their work.
Phase two, however, is why we're here today. We have engaged in a cross-country tour speaking with individuals, organizations, municipalities, first nations people, communities both urban and rural, and remote communities across Canada. We've been asking the participants in this consultation to give us their views on the future of Canada Post, and more specifically, to give recommendations and suggestions on how Canada Post can improve both its services and its financial viability going forward. That's why we have invited you here today to participate.
The process is quite simple. We'll ask each of the presenters to open with a brief statement of five minutes or less. I'll try to keep you to that as well as I can. Following your opening statements, we'll have a round of questions from every committee member, and then your comments and your testimony will form part of our final report.
With that brief word of opening, we'll start with Ms. Button, for five minutes or less, please.
You have the floor.