Government Operations committee  They would be mostly in remote areas, and I'm unfortunately unfamiliar if they have broadband or not, but I would think some may.

Government Operations committee  I'm sorry. I've misunderstood your question. Actually in the majority of our rural centres, there would be because they have the retail point of sale. They would have, yes.

Government Operations committee  Thank you for the opportunity. My name is Shelly Krahenbil. I'm the president of the Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association here in Saskatchewan. Nationally, CPAA represents postmasters and assistants in 3,229 rural post offices, with approximately 8,700 members across Canada and over 1,300 here in Saskatchewan.

Government Operations committee  No.

Government Operations committee  No, I don't. As Canadians, we deserve equal service availability regardless of where we live.

Government Operations committee  No. I believe that if we maintain things the way they are, that's acceptable. We haven't had rural route delivery across rural Canada for many, many years. I don't see an issue with that. We are very content to drive to our communities, whether it be 10 kilometres or.... As a farmer myself—

Government Operations committee  Absolutely.

Government Operations committee  As far as the postal banking goes, yes, it would be very welcome in rural communities that do not have a banking facility available. In the urban centres, we have to consider that we do have the inner-city people who do not have a bank account and do go to the payday lenders of the world.

Government Operations committee  What's going to be viable for them would have to be looked at by Canada Post, but I envision.... We go to a hotel. They have business centres. We could have a computer room set up if people wished to use it if they didn't have their own services at home. If I may make a comment on your question about the franchises, I do not go to franchises because of my being a postmaster in a rural community and I support our corporate offices, but there are occasions when we, as CPAs, are in the cities and we have to do some mailing.