Government Operations committee  That's a good question. I would submit to you that we did evaluate all different types of business banking models, as well as retail banking models. Our first filter was the strategic assessment and fit assessment, and the second was the business case. On that basis, it wasn't d

Government Operations committee  I really couldn't comment on whether the USPS enjoys a superior level of subsidy and whether that translates directly into market advantage.

Government Operations committee  There is a split, and Canada Post is earning a profit on the services sold by the franchisees. That's correct.

Government Operations committee  Thank you for the question. I'll address it in the context of the two most significant opportunities—the first being alternate-day delivery and the other being the retail footprint—and maybe turn it over to my colleagues. On alternate-day delivery, there is certainly a significa

Government Operations committee  To your first question, I certainly agree that sticking to your knitting if the wool is running out is not a viable long-term strategy. While we certainly were not mandated to do a managerial assessment of Canada Post, there is certainly no shortage of ideas being explored by Can

Government Operations committee  I'll do my best. Thank you for the question. The question is why Canada Post is franchising in areas that might otherwise have a post office to serve the public need. There are a number of reasons. One is that certain areas don't provide as much coverage within a certain distanc

Government Operations committee  I would argue that some of the best opportunities for franchising are in the rural and remote areas, because it doesn't require significant real estate investment and other staffing for thinly used services that Canada Post would offer, and instead allows you to piggyback on inve

Government Operations committee  I do think there is a lot of merit in the strategy of sticking to your knitting and core focus. I think there was a legitimate risk of misinterpretation of our report, which cast a wide net and evaluated almost 40 potential opportunities, which clearly this group did not misinter

Government Operations committee  It's a fair question, but it really depends on the line of business that Canada Post gets into. As we've contemplated postal banking, it's more of a storefront services provider and interface to other major banks.

Government Operations committee  That's right.

Government Operations committee  On the revenue side, what we found by and large, on any of the incremental...what's called the new lines of business, was that potential game-changers like postal banking were evaluated on the merits of the capabilities of the company and the needs of Canadians and whether or not

Government Operations committee  It's a fair question. We were focused principally on Canada Post, but we did look at the Service Canada centres, particularly in the more rural areas, as an opportunity to potentially both increase service to Canadians in those areas as well as to reduce costs. The typical staff

Government Operations committee  It's certainly a fair challenge to ask is Canada the lowest cost to consumers market for banking services? The answer is it is not the lowest cost. It is a very heavily banked country. It isn't the lowest cost, but it's far from the highest. That said, there's little to say that

Government Operations committee  —or they could do that today. I guess the question is, is that the necessary catalyst? If that's what's deemed good policy, then that is a basis.

Government Operations committee  It's a very fair question and a challenge to the observations of the report, as opposed to the recommendations. I would simply point out that doing so would require significant investment on the part of Canada Post and the government in building skills and capabilities that clea