moved that Bill C-203, an Act to provide for the review of postal rates and services and to amend certain Acts in consequence thereof, be read the second time and referred to a committee.
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to present this bill to the House of Commons today. This is not my first attempt; as you may know, I presented this same bill in the 34th Parliament, but unfortunately I was not lucky enough then in that my name was not drawn by lot, as is required for debating such an initiative.
I would like to take a few moments to give you the background of this bill. In June 1988, the minister who was then responsible for Canada Post announced the creation of the Postal Services Review Committee, PSRC, which I am proposing to the House today.
In August 1988, the government tabled a bill, C-149, to create the Postal Services Review Board. Unfortunately, when the 33rd Parliament was dissolved, the bill died on the Order Paper.
Meanwhile, in November 1989, the PSRC made public several recommendations, most of which were not acted on by the Conservative government of that time. In 1990, the Minister of Finance in his budget abolished the review committee.
At present, Canada Post must publish its new or amended regulations in the Canada Gazette , after which the interested parties have 60 days to make their comments to the minister responsible.
After the Board of the Corporation reviews the regulations, the proposal is sent to the Governor in Council, who in turn has 60 days to accept or reject it. If no decision is made within that time, the regulation is deemed to be accepted and approved.
Under clause 18 of the bill I am proposing to this House today, Canada Post would have to submit a copy of any proposed regulation to the board for review at least ten days before it is published in the Canada Gazette . The board would have 120 days to hold a public hearing into the merits of the proposed regulation. The public would be notified of the times and places of each hearing at least 30 days in advance so that they can submit their recommendations in writing to the board.
The board would then publish its recommendations and comments in the Canada Gazette as soon as possible. The corporation would have 30 days to notify the board in writing whether or not it accepts the recommendations and, if not, to outline the reasons of its decision. This response would also be published in the Canada Gazette . The proposed regulation in its original form or, if amended as a result of the board's recommendations, in its amended form would then be submitted to the Governor in Council. If the Governor in Council has not approved or rejected the proposed regulation 30 days after receiving it, he shall be deemed to have approved it. It is similar in this regard to the current practice.
All major service proposals from Canada Post would be treated the same way. The corporation would have to send the board a copy of its corporate plan at least 180 days before submitting it to the government. The board would have 120 days to review the proposal, including a 30-day public notice, hold hearings and send its recommendations to Canada Post.
Again, the public would be informed of the recommendations. The corporation would have to respond to the board within 30 days and the response would be made public. This response would be in line with the proposal that the corporation would attach to its corporate plan and would be forwarded to the minister to be approved by the government. It would then be up to government officials to make the final decision concerning the rate increase and other major changes to postal services. In other words, the government would keep its decision-making authority. However, we would have this quasi-regulatory process I am proposing today.
The main thing is that this process will be as open and public as possible. Canadians will be kept informed, they will have the opportunity to make comments, to know the recommendations made by the Board, as well as the response of Canada Post and the decision reached by the public authorities.
Besides the regular reviews of the postal rates and services, the Board will conduct other examinations at the request of the minister. In other words, the minister will have the authority to ask the Board to undertake additional reviews on any issue related to Canada Post. This way, the minister will be able to ask the Board to hold public hearings on any issue. In such a case, the Board would present its recommendations either to the minister or to the Canada Post Corporation.
The bill that I have produced today, Bill C-203, has its origins in a previous Parliament. It was designed to address a number of concerns related to Canadians that reflected the previous government's broader agenda.
We all know that government, the Tory government, cut many services to Canadians in the name of balancing the books, not just postal services but many other services as well; VIA Rail, the CBC, I could go on and on, but especially the post office and especially in rural Canada.
In essence the Conservative government thumbed its nose at Canadians, particularly rural Canadians, and slashed programs without considering the impact on the people of our country. What a change with the compassionate and caring government that we have now.
That environment at the time fostered resentment and suspicion among Canadians that they were being shut out of decisions affecting their daily lives. There was a strong perception that the former government and by extension federal institutions in general were not serving Canadians as they were intended to do but were ignoring their concerns.
Even though this is a crown corporation and not a government department, Canada Post is the most visible federal government presence for many Canadians, especially in rural areas and small towns. Consequently the general dissatisfaction with the former government's method of operation caused people to question how the corporation serves them and whether their interests are being adequately considered in decisions about postal service.
I remember those awful decisions of years gone by when Canada Post decided in communities in my riding to shut down the post office.
That reminds me of something that happened in St. Albert, a community in my riding where the famous St. Albert cheese is made. This is a very dynamic, fast growing community with its three farm co-ops. So, obviously, no one could argue that St. Albert did not need postal services any more. However, the previous government decided to close the post office in that community. Why? Was it because it was not needed any more? No. Was it because the people did not need postal services any more? No. Was it because the post office was losing money? Absolutely not! It was closed because the postmaster had retired. Can you imagine making business decisions like that? Can you imagine closing down a plant because the manager retires? Fortunately, that government, and its attitude, were replaced by a more reasonable one.
For rural Canadians, the best day since the last election was when the minister responsible for Canada Post rose in this House to say that there would be no more post office closures in rural areas. That was an important day for my fellow citizens living in villages and small communities.
I want to take this opportunity to congratulate again the minister responsible for Canada Post.
It is the lack of concern shown by the previous government regarding the needs of Canadians living in rural areas and, to some extent, in urban centres, which prompted MPs like me to table bills such as this one. The purpose of this legislation is to ensure accountability and services to Canadians in rural areas.