Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Anderson, for being with us here today. Thank you so much for your testimony on postal banking and rural postal service, which is so incredibly vital and important to communities across Canada.
I had a chance to walk in the Labour Day parade this summer. I had a chance to walk with postal workers. I want to reiterate how incredibly hard-working, dedicated, committed and compassionate our postal workers are. The work they do is absolutely outstanding. I want to begin by sharing my gratitude for their hard work and commitment to delivering the mail and looking after our communities and neighbours.
I also want to add a bit of a high note today. The Bank of Canada and Stats Canada indicated today that the inflation rate has dropped down to 2%. That's eight consecutive months of low inflation within the Bank of Canada's target rate. That is good news for working families and residents across Canada.
Mr. Anderson, I want to ask you about the definition of “rural”. We actually don't have a definition of “rural” in the 1994 moratorium. I want to begin by asking you, in your opinion, how we define “rural” when it comes to rural postal service.
Let's start off with some basics.