Good morning.
Good morning everyone.
It's our pleasure to be back to meet the parliamentary committee that has been working very hard, from what we've heard. We're quite pleased to hear that, because it means that you'll come up with good recommendations.
On my right is Marena McLaughlin, who you know already; and Mr. Mr. Jim Hopson, who you very well know and has travelled a long way from home. Unfortunately, Krystyna Hoeg could not be with us because she had previous commitments that she could not refuse.
Thank you again for having us.
We are here in front of you to remind you of what you may have forgotten, or what you already know very well. We thought it was important to revisit first, of course, our mandate.
Our mandate wasn't to make recommendations. Our job was to draw attention to considerations that were based not on our perceptions or impressions but, rather, on facts, and that was key. We were also bound by the limits of our mandate. We obviously had to disregard any form of subsidization, and we had to explore options for privatization, among other things. So those were our lines in the sand, if you will.
It was pretty clear and definite, and we've respected every term of our mandate.
You've met some of the people we worked with, Ernst & Young and Oliver Wyman. They are very rigorous and have done excellent work, and we're very pleased with the collaboration we got from them. But maybe you know more about that rigour than the one we've had for other dimensions of our work.
We were rigorous in making sure that what we were to consider and to assess was not strictly the opinion of a few people. We reached out, not to do consultations as you've been doing, but to meet with stakeholders to make sure that we were really understanding the different dimensions, the different aspects, of a very complex and long history of an important institution. It was not only for the people in government or the people working in Canada Post; all Canadians are concerned and are touched by the future of Canada Post.
Let me remind you about what we've done. We have met multiple stakeholders, and every time we met one it was not one person. The stakeholders were representing their members, whether I am thinking here about the Federation of Canadian Municipalities or the association of bankers. We met the Canadian Association of Retired Persons. We met, of course, with the different unions working in Canada Post. We met with postal experts, including, of course, Robert Campbell, who had done the first study some years ago.
We were very thorough in understanding the points of view of Canada Post's clients as well as its competitors. We met with UPS and we met with the Retail Council of Canada. We felt that it was important not to hear complaints—that was not the objective of our meetings. The objective was to hear what their view of the future was. Did they have ideas of what could constitute the future of Canada Post?
But our mandate was important, also. We were asked to understand Canadian views. In order to really understand Canadian views, we had a website on which we were posting a question every week. But there was also the necessity of understanding Canadians' views scientifically. We've done an extensive survey among Canadians in all provinces, all generations, and we kind of outnumbered the younger population, the older population, handicapped people, and even native people. Altogether we surveyed 2,400 people.
We also surveyed business people separately. There, again, it was an extensive number. There were 1,200 businesses consulted. They were small and large, and from all sectors of activities.
It's important to revisit that. In the discussions you may have had, we may not have stressed those aspects of our work as importantly.
It is with all of that knowledge and suggestions that we have done our work of analysis. First, there was the analysis of assessing the financial situation of Canada Post now and in the future by making some hypotheses and forecasting the future for the next 10 years. We had to bring you the views on this despite the fact that you are doing your own consultation. Of course, you don't have time to do the kinds of numbers we had with the surveys, to give you the opinions of Canadians, the uses they have for Canada Post, and how they project they will be using Canada Post in the future.
The third dimension was that if there was a discrepancy between the financial assessment and the forecast we have and Canadians' views, what could be the options that could ensure sustainability for Canada Post?
We worked with Oliver Wyman and Ernst & Young. These are consultants who have vast and international expertise, and who even have expertise in postal services. When we worked with Oliver Wyman, there was a first bundle, I might say, of options. There were more than 40 that were, at first glance, interesting, but when we dug into them, we retained only the ones that could fit our criteria. I say this because criteria were not what could be done in a very kind of hypothetical approach, but it was a matter of having the three criteria. Considering the market dynamics, is the option viable? Considering the fit with the competencies of CPC, is it viable? Finally, is there a real potential upside? Of course, if the financial situation does not really have a pinkish tint, you want something that will bring possibilities. That's how we have reduced our options through a rigorous process and analysis.
Our conclusion, you know by now, is that the situation at Canada Post already is one in which one size doesn't fit all. That's already the case when you see how the mail is delivered across the country.
However, in the options that have been considered, there is no silver bullet. The financial situation is not about a tragedy. Rather, it's about being conscious and aware that the past cannot be prolonged. Change has to occur. Realignment has to occur. Transformation has to occur.
What we have described the interesting options. For some, if you do one, you may not be able to the other. However, they are not about solving all the issues. It's about allowing a bridge between today, the future realignment, and the transformation that we say is needed in our conclusion.
It's clear to us that there is no single recommendation that can be done strictly by one of the parties or stakeholders involved. The transformation and then thinking along the transformation and the realignment, even the kind of short-term or mid-term options, all require collaboration of all stakeholders. That will definitely be a real challenge.
We have worked every day for four months, very seriously, including travelling—not through the whole country, but from our home to Ottawa to work together—to make sure there is a future for Canada Post. It is clear to everybody, from the surveys we've done and the meetings we've had, that the future of Canada Post is important.
It's not strictly about history and the past; it's about working together to make sure there is a future.