Government Operations committee  The only clearing would be done in a public way. They wouldn't go into anything that would be off a public roadway or a public sidewalk.

Government Operations committee  With the CMBs, the inconsistency is the aspect that the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities has mentioned. In some cases they have been satisfied with the level of consultation and in other cases they haven't been. Oftentimes, when they haven't been, it's been reflective of all the problems of ice buildup and other congestion that is not conducive to a safe operating environment for postal delivery and gathering.

Government Operations committee  I think, in fairness, what the UNSM would do would be to have a discussion and have Halifax weigh in on what its interests are versus ours within the CBRM. There are two urban centres in the province only, two cities. The 50 municipalities are trying to work together to have a collaboration in consistency, so I would defer to the Halifax council for what its opinion would be on that.

Government Operations committee  I'll start my list from A to—

Government Operations committee  I'll end up in Yarmouth, but—

Government Operations committee  It can be all over the map.

Government Operations committee  In fact, this is a dilemma we're going through. This was, as I said, eight former municipal units. Halifax was merging into a regional municipality. Queen's County volunteered to come together. The province is going through a process. We've lost. We were 54 municipalities a couple of years ago, but we're down to 50.

Government Operations committee  There are other realities coming to bear, and regional government is going to be a new reality, because municipal units are not sustainable. As governments at the municipal level, there is no average municipal size—

Government Operations committee  —but everyone's being stressed to get the job done.

Government Operations committee  They do. In the communities of Donkin, Port Morien, or Gabarus—I've been in them—you stop in the post office to say hello because then the community will know that you're there when you're campaigning. People do use that as their hub. In fact, at a veteran's door, he goes, “Okay, I'm talking you up down at the post office.”

Government Operations committee  Well, when I look at the public service aspect, I get a lot of sensitive information that comes into my mailbox, and I know a lot of other people who are making transactions. The difference with contracting out to retail is it's not just about paying for a service. You're also paying for confidentiality.

Government Operations committee  When you look at the retail outlets in the community of North Sydney, you see that Shoppers Drug Mart is literally a few hundred feet away from the post office, so two alternate elements are in place. When you talk about locations and you talk to workers within the postal service, it's not so much geographical.

Government Operations committee  We don't have a provision for snow clearance.

Government Operations committee  Not to my knowledge.

Government Operations committee  Each level of government has a general area of specialty and an understanding of where things can be done. As an example, the regional municipality here is now just in its 21st year; it was eight former municipal units that were forced together into one body, and there are three operation divisions.