Government launches Canada Post review
The Canadian government has launched an independent review of Canada Post, which will aim to “help put Canada Post on a self-sustaining footing, while providing valuable services for Canadians well into the future”. Canada’s Public Services Minister Judy Foote said that the privatisation of Canada Post was not on the cards, but the review will be looking at “innovative new ideas”.
The review was formally announced yesterday (5 May).
In the first phase of the review, a four-member Task Force will “gather facts, conduct analysis and come up with viable options for postal service in Canada” and then produce a Discussion Paper in September.
After a consultation period, a Parliamentary Committee will table a report in December, and the government will announce its decision on the future of Canada Post in the spring of 2017.
The task force will be chaired by Françoise Bertrand, who has senior management positions at the Université du Québec, Télé-Québec and major consulting firms.
The other Task Force members are: Krystyna T. Hoeg, a corporate director and the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Corby Distilleries; Jim Hopson, a former Director of Education for the Qu’Appelle Valley School Division; and Marena McLaughlin, a former Deputy Commissioner of the Atlantic Region for Correctional Service Canada.
One issues that is certainly feature prominently in the review is Canada Post’s recent policy of switching from door-to-door mail deliveries to the use of community mail boxes (which help to cut delivery costs). As previously reported, the community mail box roll-out was slowed when the Liberal Party came to power last year.
When asked about the home delivery issue at the review launch yesterday, Foote replied: “”Home delivery, yes. Home delivery in what format in terms of time is another question.
“I don’t think we specified [during election campaign] in terms of home delivery being seven days a week or five days a week. We need to hear from Canadians what it is they need and Canadians are responsible and I think they will understand that it has to be at a reasonable cost.”
