Government Operations committee  Certainly, and thank you very much to the committee. I'm here today to speak to you as a citizen but as a businessman as well, not as a city councillor, to argue for the continuation of door-to-door delivery service and an end to the super mailbox program. I'll begin my comments by simply saying we all know it's about more than just the mail, but my perspective is different from most others as I see this not as an issue of cost or cost-recovery for Canada Post, but one of opportunity, and I understand that Canada Post's real value as a corporation lies not in just the delivery of mail but in the power of its distribution and real estate network.

Government Operations committee  You'll give me one minute. You see, at city council I get a light. I'll just end by saying, I know there will be some questions on some of the issues I've raised, which I am happy to be here to answer. I would also like an opportunity to speak about the social hub aspect, where Canada Post can play a pivotal role in those primary hard-core urban centres and those geographically far-flung populations that are definitely hard to reach.

Government Operations committee  I didn't have time.

Government Operations committee  There's a problem with the accounting side. As you know, there's a difference between public accounting and what we do in the private sector. That needs to be straightened out first before we can get a real picture.

Government Operations committee  I think it already is. It's all three of those things. It is a business and it is a service, and it is an essential service that needs to be value-added.

Government Operations committee  I'll give you an example. We talked about front yards in bloom, and I'm not here on behalf of city council, but I'm the person who runs front yards in bloom in association with Canada Post postal workers. I'll be quite frank. It was all run by the city, and then what I did is I took it off the tax roll.

Government Operations committee  Some I like but some I don't like. It's kind of like lawyers.

Government Operations committee  Do you want to go first, or shall I?

Government Operations committee  We have to take a playbook out of other areas. If you go to the micro-loan industry, and you look at India, and you look in third world countries, there is a gap between what the banks are serving right now and the payday loans folks, for example, who were here previously. I think Canada Post can act as the societal hub.

Government Operations committee  Well, you know what? It is what it is.

Government Operations committee  I think you have to recognize the generation gap between the millennials and who we are today, which is my demographic. What I understood about Canada Post.... When I was a child, all I saw were postal strikes. That's what I remember as a child around Christmas, but that's not the Canada Post today.

Government Operations committee  I come from a ward that is mixed. I have door to door in my mature neighbourhoods and on the southern end of my jurisdiction, I have super mailboxes; I get both. The door-to-door aspect of it, certainly in my mature neighbourhoods, is not only about mail. It's about contact. It's about seeing somebody on the street and having eyes on the street, and they see inherent value in that.

Government Operations committee  When I hear about a super mailbox going in, usually it's a complaint. Period.

Government Operations committee  Absolutely, but we have to do this with an evidentiary-based approach. This means we have to fully understand the books first. Then, we can have an intelligent conversation around what we're going to do next. You can't just talk about it. You have to base it on what's happening on the ground now, what it's costing, what you're doing.

Government Operations committee  The primary complaint has always been location, location, location. I've been in construction most of my life. The mailboxes, in and of themselves, are installed, generally, pretty well, but it's always been about why you put it here and whether it is appropriate here. It is kind of like cellphone towers.