Mr. Speaker, a couple of weeks ago I asked the following question of the Minister of Transport:
Mr. Speaker, the minister will know that Canada Post is pursing injunctions against a number of small Canadian businesses that are in the business of international re-mailing, some of which have been in business for 20 years. Thousands of employees will lose their jobs, hundreds of businesses will close and Canada will lose $150 million in business.
What will it be: monopolistic abuses by Canada Post or vigorous competition from small business? Will the minister use his authority under the Financial Administration Act and tell Canada Post to withdraw its assault on small business?
The answer was as follows:
--it is a very important subject. I have received representation not only from members opposite but also members from our political party. We are looking at the issue now and we will be taking note not only of that issue, but we will be advising the House as to what we want to do in the coming days.
If we break down the answer, we see that it is very important, that MPs on both sides of the House are keenly interested in the issue, that the minister is looking at the issue, and that he is going to advise the House in the coming days.
I would suggest that the coming days have arrived and that the role of the post office is indeed quite inconsistent with what is good business practice. While the minister looks at the issue, the post office pursues its injunction remedies. All of these re-mailing businesses are therefore at risk. How can they carry on?
I do not know what experience you have had with small business, Mr. Speaker. I can see you shaking your head, having been in this chamber for many years and not having run a small business, but you can appreciate, however, that many small businesses are day to day operations and frequently do not have huge amounts of capital to go to on a rainy day. Here they are, at risk, and competing with a monopoly that has gross revenues of $7 billion and is using the best legal services that money can buy, frankly. It is trying to run them out of town.
We have a whole re-mailing business that is worth a total of $150 million, spread over quite a number of small businesses, versus a $7 billion monopoly. It is a bit of a David and Goliath situation. It would be interesting to know what the minister prefers. Does he prefer monopolistic abuse or does he prefer vigorous competition?
Even Canada Post, in its annual report, noted:
In the last 20 years, we have seen a fundamental change in the global communications industry. As mailers provide economic incentives for customers to switch to electronic communication, and consolidated invoices and statements, the concept of “exclusive privilege” is eroding. As a practical matter, the value of the exclusive privilege on letters, put in place as a means to cover the cost of providing Universal Service, has been lessened.
I see that I am being given the sign, so to speak, and, not to put a stamp on it, I will conclude by saying that the post office is using its exclusive privilege to effectively destroy these small businesses, and therefore we are calling upon the minister to make his decision now.