By Isaac Phan Nay, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/p>\n
What to do with Canada Post?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a question that\u2019s out of the government\u2019s hands until next month. On Sept. 25, Ottawa gave Canada Post CEO Doug Ettinger 45 days to come up with a plan to bring the Crown corporation back from the brink.<\/p>\n
Over the past week, a committee of MPs that ensures government functions effectively has been trying to find ways forward for the corporation.<\/p>\n
The Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates heard testimony from Jo\u00ebl Lightbound, the minister for government transformation, public works and procurement, who is responsible for Canada Post.<\/p>\n
Lightbound told the committee he plans to let Canada Post make changes recommended in commissioner William Kaplan\u2019s report, including ending home delivery, closing rural post offices, scaling up parcel delivery and making employment more flexible.<\/p>\n
Saving Canada Post will require at least 10,000 layoffs, experts say.<\/p>\n
But Lightbound said he plans to stay the course and make changes needed.<\/p>\n
The postal service laid off dozens of managers this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of that transformation will happen through attrition. I\u2019m convinced of that,\u201d Lightbound said, speaking through a translator. \u201cBut the transformation has to begin.\u201d<\/p>\n
But on Tuesday (Oct. 28) morning, Canadian Union of Postal Workers president Jan Simpson told the committee that government intervention has prolonged its drawn-out labour dispute, which has led to ongoing rotating strikes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government has intervened a lot this round of bargaining, and it has hindered our bargaining,\u201d Simpson said. \u201cIt has delayed bargaining and put instability on the Canadian public.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said letting the union get fair collective agreements for workers would mean stability for the corporation, and let the business resume bringing in revenue.<\/p>\n
A radical restructuring
Earlier this year, the federal government gave Canada Post a $1-billion bailout. That\u2019s the type of payment Lightbound said he was not willing to continue.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important for us, if we are to be responsible, to stop the hemorrhaging, stop the bleeding,\u201d Lightbound said. \u201cIt cannot be stuck in a business model that was designed for the \u201990s. It needs to adapt to today\u2019s reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
The committee consulted with business professors Ian Lee and Marvin Ryder, from Carleton University and McMaster University, respectively, on possible ways forward for Canada Post.<\/p>\n
Ryder said the changes Lightbound has already allowed would help Canada Post \u2014 but the corporation will still need to find a way to grow its business if it plans to break even.<\/p>\n
Ryder predicted the changes needed would mean 10,000 employees would either be encouraged to retire or laid off.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo union is going to want to agree to that,\u201d Ryder said. \u201cSo I don\u2019t quite know how you\u2019re going to find that labour harmony that is so necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lee offered an alternative path forward \u2014 stop delivering mail five days a week, franchise all Canada Post-owned post offices to be independently run and allow Canada Post to re-assign mail carriers work while they\u2019re on the job.<\/p>\n
Canada Post would need to \u201cradically restructure\u201d and become a much smaller company, Lee said \u2014 a change he estimated would mean 15,000 to 20,000 layoffs.<\/p>\n
\u2018Let Canadians decide\u2019
On Tuesday, CUPW\u2019s Simpson told the committee that instead of following Kaplan\u2019s recommendations, Canada Post should invest in its parcel business and launch financial products to raise revenues.<\/p>\n
\u201cKaplan ignored the voice of workers, communities, municipalities, charities and small businesses,\u201d Simpson said.<\/p>\n
She said the union has consulted the Canadian public, and recommends increasing the cost of mailing letters and packages and expanding door-to-door delivery \u2014 which Simpson said is the post\u2019s competitive advantage.<\/p>\n
The union is calling for the federal government to consult with the public before letting Canada Post make sweeping structural changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet Canadians decide what they want and need from their public post office, and let\u2019s reverse the cuts and invest in the future of our public postal service,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTogether, we can build a stronger, more sustainable Canada Post, one that continues to serve every Canadian.\u201d<\/p>\n
The corporation has not yet presented its plans for service change. Canada Post\u2019s Ettinger still has until early November to bring Ottawa his recommendations on a path forward.<\/p>\n
This article first appeared in The Tyee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Isaac Phan Nay, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter What to do with Canada Post? It\u2019s a question that\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271615,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,1848,75230,44],"class_list":["post-271614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-post","tag-canadian-union-of-postal-workers","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}