Mr. Chair, I can only refer to the news release that Canada Post has put out, because it is its five-point plan. What it says in the title is that the plan will return system to financial sustainability by 2019 and ensure continued role of enabling trade and commerce.
It is looking at areas of growth. The hon. member mentioned those, and one of them, of course, was parcel delivery. As indicated, with the increase in the amount of addresses Canada Post has to deliver to and the lack of letter mail that is delivered, it does have to do other things.
In its five-point plan, it lays out certain things it would like to do. The main initiatives are these: over the next five years, convert the remaining one-third of Canadian households that receive their mail at the door to community mailbox delivery; that it has a new approach to pricing letter mail to take effect, which has happened; that it expands convenience through postal franchisees; that it streamlines it operations; and that it does address the cost of labour.
As was pointed out by the hon. member, it is worthy to note that the average age of a current employee of Canada Post is 48 years old, almost my age today. Canada Post expects that nearly 15,000 employees will retire or leave the company over the next 5 years. That is more enough, in its view, to allow for the reduction of between 6,000 and 8,000 positions, mainly through attrition.
It is taking a legacy company and turning it around for the future, meeting the needs of Canadians and doing so in a financially self-sustaining manner.