Gunter: “We need a Crown corporation delivering our mail the same way we need government-owned telephone services or public buggy whip makers.”
P.S. Denis Lemelin, the president of Canadian Postal Workers Union, talks with Krista Erickson of Sun News TV.
So, what is stopping this purely common sense notion from becoming reality?
Anyone?
One word: U N I O N S
I fear you’re right, Doug. Here in B.C. few people asked any big questions when Gordon Campbell’s initiative to privatize all gov’t liquor stores was suddenly halted in its tracks. Why did it stop? Me thinks the unions had something to do with it.
P.S. The photo was taken by yours truly yesterday near 6th & Commercial Drive in Vancouver. That area is the Heart & Soul of the Left Coast thinking in Vancouver. đ
I said esentially the same thing Lorne, but in the 140 characters of a tweet.
Suppose you are a public sector union on strike and no one noticed. Or Cared.
“The postal service still exists only because some of its customers (mostly technophobic seniors and small businesses) refuse to learn how to use online billing and payment.”
how many of you readers out there ever had one of those ‘gee, that was easy’ moments when migrating utilitiy payments to the online variety?
the very simple explanation for all this is unions have outlived their usefulness.
Lorne Gunter nails it. I have been for privatizing the Post Office for 20 years already. While they are at it privatize every federal/provincial department that can be privatized as this will go a long way to sort out the unions as well…
Most other developed countries make their government “owned” postal services work. No reason why Canada can’t. Mulroney pretty much broke the postal unions when they started contracting out postal services anyway.
This “issue” is really just an ideologues tackling dummy.
PRIVATIZE ALREADY!
Yes, privatize Canada Post and while we’re waiting legislate them back to work pronto.
From mail delivered to the wrong address, mail with cheques dropped out of the mail bag by the postie between houses (and delivered by a neighbour who happened to see it lying on the ground), to mail left on a verandah rather than being put through the mail slot, who needs Canada Post?
These guys are money-sucking vacuums who can’t even do their jobs properly. What the Hell are we paying them for? One of their picket lines was on the news last night — ‘nearly every one of them a porker. I haven’t seen such a fat, ugly group of union elites since the last public employee strike.
FIRE. THEM. ALL.
Can anyone explain to me why union thugs are allowed to park their vans across Canada Post driveway? Aren’t they trespassing on private property and committing mischief?
Why are they not being immediately fined and vehicle towed? I feel surreal driving by and seeing them blocking driveway with impunity.
Analogy to Six Nation conduct at DCE in Caledonia is startling.
Canada, is this for real???
Privatization is not a desirable option.
The postal mandate is that the gov’t will ensure postal service to ALL canadians at a uniform and affordable cost.
The only way that a private company can achieve this would be through gov’t subsidies (taxes). Privatization works in smaller countries with a much denser population base.
I have yet to hear of any company make a pitch to take over the postal service in Canada. There is a reason for that. Private companies expect a reasonable return on their investment,they won’t get it by taking over Canada Post.
BTW,Denis Lemelin sure doesn’t inspire confidence that the postal workers will gain in the next contract.
Here in the USA our postal workers are being replaced by part-time workers. The full-time workers have been retiring and I expect them to privatize within 10 years or so. I know one person who retired, with full benefits, at about 55 years of age. Good article from the NP regarding DHL.
“The postal mandate is that the gov’t will ensure postal service to ALL canadians at a uniform and affordable cost.”
Says who? Taxpayers are under no obligation to provide postal service at a uniform cost to Canadians any more than they are obligated to provide housing, automobiles, hamburgers or socks at a uniform cost.
This postal “mandate” is a collectivist fiction. End it. Then end Canada Post’s monopoly on first class mail. If it costs $2 to mail a letter to Inuvik, then so be it. Some services cost more in remote areas. Deal with it.
Off his picket line, I passed a postal worker on the sidewalk with his CUPEâor whateverâsign today. With an apology to the few who take their jobs seriously and provide good service, he had the down at the heel, grubby, affirmative-action-candidate look of far too many of these very well paid slackers.
I felt like telling him that no oneâs on their side, that their political agenda is highly offensiveâsure, with tax payersâ hard earned $$, change the world into a socialist utopia (gag)âwhen you canât even do a simple, local job well, and that Canadians would be quite happy to see Canada Post dismantled altogether. But then, I figured there were too many ideas strung together, with sophisticated vocabulary, and he probably wouldnât get it anyway. (Honestly, the postal workers Iâve had the misfortune to deal with are the most dull, arrogant, entitled, unhelpful, slouching group of bullies Iâve ever encountered. They use their power like a bludgeon. If they ever did achieve their socialist utopia, it would resemble a gulag overseen by their goons.) I just kept walking.
I hope the Conservatives legislate these bimbos back to work very soon. Iâd also like to see some regulations put in place: e.g., that a postal supervisor provide his/her last name when dealing with a victi . . . I mean, customerâwhen making a recent complaint, I was given only the first name and told that last names were not given outâand that they be required to provide a business card with a valid phone numberâthe number, scribbled on a scrap of paper, was a wrong number, as I later discovered.
There is a postal ombudsman and perhaps I should have pursued the issue. (The original issue, about which I was speaking to the supervisor, was actually resolved very soon after my visit to the post office.) However, Iâm nervous about this one: unlike the CBC, letâs say, which only has my name and email address, these people know where I live, handle documentation with a lot of sensitive information about me, and, on occasion, I rely on them to deliver material I need. Do I trust Canada Post workers to be professional and objective and do their job, âwithout fear or favourâ, when it comes to a complainant? In a word, NO. (I guess I should consider doing more things on-line . . .)
That picture is hilarious! The way they wear the uniform reflects their work ethic.
looking at those two , I think a public buggy whip is a good idea.
Looks like the Britney Spears and Eminem of Canada Post!!!
They don’t just deliver your mail, they also entertain you with their musical genius! LOL!
These two are some of better dressed postie slobs you see about. Check out your local bar at about 1:00, it’s a fashion show!
As an American studying in Canada 15 years ago, I was surprised to pay GST on postage. On the other hand, the carrier on my postal route walked a lot faster than most US postal carriers.
In the US, UPS is unionized while FedEx is not. Starting hourly pay is higher at FedEx. You read that right; the unions are holding the new workers back.
The only way that a private company can achieve this would be through gov’t subsidies (taxes). Privatization works in smaller countries with a much denser population base.
I have yet to hear of any company make a pitch to take over the postal service in Canada. There is a reason for that. Private companies expect a reasonable return on their investment,they won’t get it by taking over Canada Post.
In rural areas, most delivery services are already privatized. Contractors bid to provide postal services in small towns all across Saskatchewan. Private contractors even carry the mail from large centers to these small towns. I would assume that this is a common practice across the country. There is no reason why Canada Post needs a monopoly to provide this service, and there’s no reason that competitors can’t use the same drop points.
My mail could be delivered once a week and it would probably be too often. I get my newspapers and magazines on-line, pay my bills on-line and as of this week will be getting my bills on-line as well.
Even the comments threads at CBC are running about 9 to 1 against the union – and that is a clear indicator that the union is fighting a losing battle. Time for them to move on and bring some sanity to their members.
Robert W. and Steve – The picture is priceless, I think many Postal employees were hired in the 60’s and 70’s just out of the hippie era, and when you think of it, the only skill needed is to be able to walk and read, and many can’t do that. Many are now motorized so they must have a driver’s license too. And living in Vancouver, we know that anyone can attain one of those!
“This postal “mandate” is a collectivist fiction.”
Thanks Dennis for clearing that matter up. I’m still a little doubtful though. I don’t suppose that you have a link that proves your point ,do you?
Build a new house in a new subdivision about 20 years ago.
Have had to walk a half-block to the SuperMailbox ever since.
No problem for me.
Sticking to the issues (name-calling is so juvenile), I’m thinking that is the way of the future.
Know of some mailmen who love the job because it allows them to get their exercise by walking.
Trouble is, with decreasing volumes, the time it takes to walk the route has decreased greatly, so one of the issues is hours worked for salary paid.
Of course, the union would like to protect the pension setup. That’s their job.
What’s in store for the future? I’m sure all the mail can be delivered with about one-fifth of the employees with a Canada-wide SuperMailbox system in the urban areas.
Now that there’s a lockout, it’s time to sign up for e-billing.
That should take down the volumes even more.
Too bad. So sad.
“Most other developed countries make their government “owned” postal services work. No reason why Canada can’t.” posted by gray @ 7:19 a.m.
But,Canada Post does work. The corporation has returned profits and dividends to the gov’t every year for the past 16. It is not a burden on the taxpayer,it is one of the few gov’t services that actually gets the job done,even through ean economic downturn.
Of course there are a few problems,such as lookout’s above,and the union can be a pain at times,however the post office does work. It is akin to water treatment,you don’t think much about it until something goes wrong.
“That picture is hilarious! The way they wear the uniform reflects their work ethic.“— posted by Steve @ 10:18 a.m.
Steve,these employees likely just finished their routes. How fresh would you feel and look after putting a 25 pound bag on your shoulders and taking a four hour hike?
This line from the Gunter article sums it up perfectly:
Canada Post and its 50,000 union employees are fighting over who gets to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic
Time to nationalize the National Post,…. anyone?
For ONE WHOLE YEAR we’ve been waiting for our mailboxes to be installed in our neighborhood. For ONE WHOLE YEAR we’ve had to go down to the postal station between the hours of 10 am and 3 pm to pickup our mail. At the postal station half the time the flunkies have no idea what you are talking about when you go to pickup the mail. This is a Canada Post run station not a nice, friendly efficient private one btw. Anyway last week they finally installed the mailboxes but the people at the postal station don’t know anything about it. Seriously.
Also a few times my mail has been soaking wet when I picked it up. Not sure how they managed that.
I worked in a newspaper in the 80’s. The joke was: “How does a Canada Post employee wink?”
Answ: “He (she) opens one eye.”
In Regina main post office, they were actually caught sleeping on the cotton bags filled with unsorted mail.
We had customers phoning from remote areas along the Canada-USA border and who relied on Canada Post for their newspapers. One old cowboy used to drive across the border and mail letters at Turner, Montana. He used to phone for his newspapers (75 miles away) and claim that he could deliver mail on horseback faster than Canada Post.
BTW,I ordered on-line a copy of that book that was featured here a few weeks ago,”The Benefits of Socialism”.
Friday I got a call from UPS saying that they were unable to deliver it (because I wasn’t home during the daytime) ,and I should pick it up at their depot,which is about 12 miles away. If it had been sent by Canada Post,I could walk a few blocks and pick it up.
As Joni Mitchell says ” you don’t know what you got until it’s gone” .
I seem to remember seeing a news report on a privately-owned business who was also delivering mail in/around the GTA area a few years ago – and Canada Post (or was it the union?) who started a lawsuit against them because of it.
Did a Google search, but coulnd’t find anything – I’ll have to refine my search terms.
In any case, @wallyj, “The only way that a private company can achieve this would be through gov’t subsidies (taxes)” – from what I understood, these guys weren’t getting subsidies/tax money.
Open CP up to competition. If someone else can deliver mail – cheaper, with better service, etc. then why not let them do so?
Karthanon MT, I don’t know about the case you are referring to,but a few years ago Enmax in Calgary delivered their own bills and were stopped. The reason being is that Canada Post has a monopoly on lettermail delivery. The urban mail delivery ,which is profitable,subsidizes the unprofitable rural delivery and the smaller towns.
If private companies suck up the gravy from the system,the deliveries to the other areas will be very costly to either the customer or the taxpayer.
wallyj….if you think the private sector couldn’t get mail to all of Canada, you are dreaming. They could do it easily and better. Don’t think so? Well then think about an operation like Coca Cola. The product is manufactured and shipped in over 200 countries (more than belong to the UN) and is available in just about every rinky-dink store in every village in every country. You bet private industry could do it. Just let them loose to do it.
wallyj also talks about the “profits” of Canada Post. Well, first of all, it shouldn’t surprise anyone really, that a regulated monopoly make a profit.
However, since 1998, the amount of dividends (Canada Post does not pay all of its “profits” to the government) paid by Canada Post to the government of Canada is just over $500 million, or about $40 million a year.
To put that into perspective, the TOTAL amount of dividends paid by Canada Post to the government since 1998 is about equal to the amount of government funding that goes to CBC in 5 MONTHS.
I’m with wallyj above. I order a lot of stuff on the Internet, and I always have it shipped by the US Postal Service and/or Canada Post. Why? They are better than the couriers. Express Post sometimes gets things to me in 2 days (for 10 bucks) and if I miss the postman I walk a block and pick it up at the (privatized) postal counter in the local drugstore.
Contrast this with UPS: They come by during working hours. Of course I miss the guy. I don’t drive and since the “depot” is in the middle of friggin’ nowhere in relation to where I live I now need to pay for transit and waste a couple of hours on top of what I already paid to have my package shipped.
Joey,comparing Coca-Cola to Canada Post is just silly.
Canada Post is not profit driven. It is doing well to break even. The corporation’s main purpose is to provide uniform mail delivery to ALL Canadians at a reasonable cost.
They are doing that very well,thank you.
Yes, but Paul, the private sector would use those privatized postal counters in a heartbeat IF THEY WERE ALLOWED TO. They aren’t.
Another bone of contention that is often brought up is the customs brokerage charges that couriers charge. Another red herring. That is simply because Canada Post is SUBSIDIZED by taxpayers wherein the customs agents do NOT charge Canada Post for brokerage coming across the border. Private couriers do not enjoy the same subsidy. That too is simply a matter of the system as it exists to support Canada Post over competition.
Canada Post can’t come close to operators like Fed-Ex. A couple of weeks ago I bought a replacement lamp for my TV on eBay out of a place in San Diego. I bought it on eBay on a Monday about 10:30 a.m. and paid for it by Paypal. The cost to ship it was $22.00. It arrived at my house THE NEXT DAY at about 3:00 p.m. – a little over 24 hours from the time I bought the thing – and there were NO customs or brokerage charges.
“the private sector would use those privatized postal counters in a heartbeat IF THEY WERE ALLOWED TO. They aren’t.”
And pepsi can’t put their product into Coke machines,what was your point again?
I’ll ask some questions once again to Wallyj, our apparent postal union troll: Why do we need a “postal mandate” in the first place? Why should the cost of postal services be uniform at all? What’s wrong with a variety of postal services and/or rates? Why should some Canadians pay inflated rates for mail delivery to subsidize the mail service of others?
@Joey… The thing is that UPS has a network of ‘UPS Stores’ (acquired from Mailboxes, etc.) that they COULD be using for that purpose, so why is it that I still have to go to their stupid DEPOT at my own expense in terms of time and transit fare which is WAY up north on the outskirts of Toronto?
Oh… I know: they want me to rent a PO box there so that I can enjoy that privilege, that’s why!
I have had better service from CP than private couiers. No rush to get rid of them.
Sorry about that SDA,but not you Paul.
I’ve been supplying facts to counter opinions. The question you raise is plausible.take it up with your MP.Take it up with Canadians who live outside the major cities.
I’m out of here ,going over to Rabble and see if I can hook-up with that smart senate page. (:-)
Sorry Paul,I mixed up names in my anger,Dennis is the a-hole that called me a troll.
In truth, I’ve had pretty decent service from CP for packages (Internet purchasing, etc). I despise Purolator. UPS/Fedex are pretty good, though.
I still believe that if a private company wants to try to deliver lettermail, they should be able to do so without fearing the monopoly of CP. Why not?
Wally,
If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck…..
Dennis, WallyJ is absolutely NOT a troll. Just because he has an opinion on this issue that differs from you (and perhaps me), that doesn’t necessitate you pulling out the T-card.
Thanks,Robert.
BTW,I wasn’t really going over to Rabble. They banned me for the same reasons that I was accused of being a troll here. I countered opinions with facts.
–Canada Post logs hundreds of postie theft cases
http://tinyurl.com/5we3h6h
–Postal workers charged with mail theft
http://tinyurl.com/6kfvu9f
–Mail sorter charged in theft
Police have charged a post office sorter with theft after seizing more than 200 pieces of stolen mail inside her house.
http://tinyurl.com/6x4vdsc
–Postie allegedly stole gift cards from mail
http://tinyurl.com/63ztxlh