Mr. Speaker, as a crown corporation that operates at arm's length from the government, Canada Post is responsible for its own operations. Canada Post's mandate is spelled out in the Canada Post Corporation Act and includes the need to conduct its operations on a self-sustaining financial basis.

The reality is that Canada Post can no longer remain financially self-sustaining within its current business model. Canadians are no longer using the mail to the extent they once did. Increasingly, Canadians are choosing digital alternatives to the mail. In fact, most of the correspondence we now receive concerning Canada Post is sent via email.

One of the key initiatives of Canada Post's five-point action plan, which the corporation announced in December, is the five-year transition to community mailboxes for the five million urban addresses that are still receiving door-to-door delivery. Since two-thirds of Canadians already receive their mail through venues other than door-to-door delivery, Canada Post believes that this initiative represents a sensible approach to saving costs. It mitigates the future massive losses that otherwise threaten the existence of postal service itself. The alternative is to ask Canadian taxpayers to subsidize those still receiving door-to-door delivery.

It should be noted that there will be no change for mail recipients living in apartment buildings, condominiums, and seniors residences, such as retirement homes, who will continue to receive their mail in the lobby of their buildings. Canadians receiving their mail through rural end-of-laneway mailboxes will also not be affected by the change.

In recent news releases, Canada Post has committed that no one will be left behind from accessing community mailboxes and that it intends to seek out the views of affected citizens directly, including through direct mail surveys and online feedback tools to ensure that solutions are available for people with significant mobility challenges who lack viable alternatives.

Given the importance of continued mail delivery over the long term, the government recognizes the importance of what Canada Post is working to achieve through the implementation of its five-point action plan. It should be noted that The Conference Board of Canada projected that Canada Post could lose roughly $1 billion a year just six years from now. Furthermore, in 2012, Canada Post delivered one billion fewer letters than it did in 2006.

Our government believes that Canada Post must balance its finances without being a burden on Canadian taxpayers, and that is what we expect it to do.

Jeff Watson

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Adjournment Proceedings

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