Mr. Speaker, I listened to the speech made by the member earlier. Unfortunately, the member wants to see only one side of the issue.
The government's mandate is clear. The government wants a commercially viable corporation. Yes, we want Canada Post to make profits to pay for its employees' salaries and to continue to provide Canadians with reasonably priced services.
The member is forgetting to indicate that the government has decided not to close rural post offices because we want all Canadians, wherever they live, to receive the same level of service as those who live in urban areas. He should also note that we have told Canada Post it cannot increase the price of stamps for the next two years. This is so Canadians do not have to pay for an increase in the cost of postal services. After two years, the corporation will be allowed to increase prices by less than the inflation rate.
Of course this is a government decision. We could have made another decision. We made this one because we want to guarantee universal postal services in Canada, from coast to coast. We think this mandate will help us reach that goal. We are asking employees to sign, as did three of the four unions at Canada Post. We are asking the Canadian Union of Postal Workers to sign.
Unfortunately, we reached a deadlock and had to bring in back-to-work legislation, but we would like the parties to sit down and look for solutions so that Canadians can continue to enjoy postal services that are among the best in the world.