Government Operations committee  I would say that I think the research we've done shows that people don't want anybody to deliver flyers to locked boxes. That may be a solution.

Government Operations committee  Well, only through Canada Post....

Government Operations committee  I would put that over to you guys. We're raising an issue where a statutorily mandated exemption is being used as a competitive advantage. That's serious business when you consider the number of Canadians who live in multi-family residences and who are not allowed to be served due to a statutory exemption.

Government Operations committee  I think we almost need the ability to refer issues. We have 400 small newspapers in very small communities, and one of the things we find is that one is so dependent on the whim or the ruling of the local postmaster. There is no ability to appeal. I think we've heard that through this process: you don't have anybody you can talk to.

Government Operations committee  They can't deal with the issues that we're concerned about. They fundamentally don't have any mandate to talk about the.... They can't talk about price, and Canada Post sets its own service standards, and they can't afford service standards.... I'm not sure what they do.

Government Operations committee  In terms of rural and remote Canada, I think if you want to ensure delivery in rural and remote Canada, and that communities have—

Government Operations committee  Yes, but my specific point was that where our members are using Canada Post in rural and remote Canada, there's an issue we're concerned about, which is that if rural and remote Canada's postal transformation continues, it simply makes it not viable for our members to continue to use Canada Post, and they really have no option.

Government Operations committee  We had hoped that the last postal review, the last mandate review, with the ombudsman would be.... We advocated for a regulator/ombudsman at the time. We went to the ombudsman, who said they can't deal with pricing and they can't deal with service. So what do they deal with? The ombudsman is an employee of Canada Post.

Government Operations committee  No. I think the issue we have—again, we're dealing with rural and remote Canada, particularly for delivery of newspapers—is really timely delivery. I think that it wouldn't be the issue so much.... Canada Post now gives a three-day to five-day window, which they often don't meet.

Government Operations committee  Yes.

Government Operations committee  Thank you. My name is John Hinds, and I'm the CEO of Newspapers Canada. We represent over 850 daily, weekly, community, and ethnocultural papers from coast to coast to coast. Newspapers and Canada Post have a unique relationship. We are not only customers but also competitors.