Ettinger Testifies before Committee on the Situation at Canada Post

On December 11, Canada Post appeared before the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates (OGGO) in the continued examination of the Situation at Canada Post. Doug Ettinger testified that the Corporation’s 45-day transformational plan was still being reviewed by the Government, saying that it contains no big surprises, and that it is based around recommendations of the Industrial Inquiry Commission led by William Kaplan. While Canada Post may be pleased with the Kaplan report’s recommendations because it reflected its goals, there was no mention that the input provided by the public in over 900 submissions was largely dismissed – especially the need for service expansion.

Canada Post used the theme of transforming the post office to meet the needs of today’s users, while at the same time minimizing the negative impacts that cuts or a leaner workforce could have on services and jobs. Ettinger noted that 30,000 employees are eligible to retire within the next 10 years – but he did not say from which positions. For CUPW, this could amount to about 4,000 people who are eligible to retire in the first five years. Canada Post said its focus is on growing the parcel market, and its work on digital transformation, given that it expects the e-commerce segment to double during that same 10-year period. However, the plan is still to eliminate almost all delivery to the door – a service provided by all of its competitors.

Canada Post tried to walk a fine line when it came to the implementation of the cuts, stating that things would be done with a highly localized approach. The 45-day plan is supposed to have a set of criteria to determine how things will be done, but these were not revealed at the hearing. The current process under the Postal Charter is arguably not very consultative and is more of a one-way notification.

We cannot point to one example where any decision made to switch to Community Mailboxes or to close a post office has been overturned.

Our Fight: Service Expansion, Not Cuts

While we certainly support the idea of growing Canada Post’s share of the parcel market, we still question the need for cuts when the timeline to return to sustainability was given as 2030 – more than enough time to create new revenue generating services. Further, as we have seen with the increased stamp rates, an additional $430 million in revenue has come in so far this year.

It’s no secret that Canada Post is going to make cuts that are easier for it to justify, hoping they go unchallenged by the public. This means that our struggle will be at a very local level – neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood and post office-by-post office. In the coming months, we will need every member to be proactive, talk to their friends and allies in their communities, reach out to their Members of Parliament and to work closely with their municipalities to ensure that we fight back against these cuts, preserve good jobs, maintain excellent service and strengthen our public post office.

In solidarity,