Couriers right to go postal
A generation ago, Pierre Trudeau warned that the state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation.
But does it have any business in the bicycle courier industry?
Since Trudeau is no longer with us, we don’t know what his opinion would be. But others are speaking loudly and clearly – like about 50 rush-courier companies across the country who are upset at Canada Post’s entry into their business.
No, we haven’t yet reached the point where posties on bikes are delivering rush envelopes downtown. But that day might come sooner than you think. Canada Post has purchased a 50-per-cent interest in Montreal-based Intelcom, one of the largest rush couriers in the city. The deal has competitors seeing red. Stories have been flying around Montreal and Toronto about Canada Post pressuring some of its big suppliers, like law firms and advertising companies, to drop their current couriers and use Intelcom.
And Intelcom is said to be trying to buy up other couriers, with the financial muscle of Canada Post behind it.
Scores of same-day delivery companies in Montreal, which pay taxes, say they’re appalled at this abuse of government power. Many worry they won’t be able to compete with the deep pockets and long reach of Canada Post.
Peter Hansen runs Q.A Courier, a Montreal-based company with over $4 million in annual sales. He’s formed a group called the Alliance to Stop Canada Post.
“They’ve got the ability to crush the small courier companies,” Hansen said at his St. Antoine St. office. “If we lose enough business to Canada Post, it’ll definitely put guys like myself out of business.
“I don’t think that serves any purpose for the Canadian economy or Canadian taxpayers.”
With more than 300 rush-
courier companies in Montreal, the sector is well served. This is not something the federal government needs to be involved in. It simply feeds Canada Post’s hunger for a monopoly in the package transportation business.
This is a smaller version of a similar fight in the overnight courier market between American-owned UPS and Purolator, which is owned by Canada Post.
UPS is suing the government under NAFTA, alleging Purolator is unfairly subsidized by Canada Post’s mail monopoly.
Over the years, Canada Post has scrapped with other private entrepreneurs, like those that deliver advertising flyers.
In 1996, consultant George Radwanski reviewed Canada Post’s mandate. His verdict: it engages in “vicious” competitive practices that have no place in a taxpayer-owned corporation.
Nothing much seems to have changed.
Hansen says Intelcom recently snatched away one of his largest clients, a law firm that gave him $250,000 a year in business. “The reason we lost them is that they are a supplier to Canada Post for legal work. Basically, what happened is that Canada Post went in and said, ‘Look, you guys should be using our local rush courier company in order to maintain that lucrative contract.’ “
Intelcom did not respond to a request for comment. But a Canada Post official, Catherine Lortie, insists the crown corporation is simply responding to the demands of its customers. “They’re asking us: ‘Why can’t I deal with Canada Post for all my shipping needs?”
That’s a hard one to swallow. Is the post office faster, cheaper and better than a hustling private courier zipping around on a bike?
