When we had a round table with Minister Chagger last year, and we invited a number of small businesses to come to talk to her, they raised only two issues. These are entrepreneurs. They're not looking for handouts, but they are looking for the removal of obstacles.
Postal rates at Canada Post was a key area of concern. The other area of concern was border frictions, specifically Canada's de minimis threshold, which is that threshold above which duties and taxes are assessed. It currently stands at $20, a rate set in the early 1980s. For that reason alone, it should be reviewed, but the task force noted that an increase in the de minimis threshold would likely increase the parcel volume to Canada Post.
We see millions of transactions every year, purchases by Canadians that are delivered south of the border or to locations outside of Canada. In some cases, right along the border there are businesses that exist only for this, to receive parcels essentially for Canadians. They then drive them across the border. That's lost revenue to Canada Post.
Were the de minimis threshold higher, the vast majority of those parcels would be delivered within Canada, and Canada Post would get some of that revenue.