Editor : Re : Canada Post review underway, Aug. 5
The federal government is conducting a public review of Canada Post. This is the moment for people to speak up about what we want from our postal service.
We've had years of service cuts and increased rices. It's time to try something different.
The post office can deliver more than mail. The government should adopt the Delivering Community Power proposal, which calls for postal banking, services for seniors and coast-to-coast charging stations for electric cars, among other ideas.
Big picture facts about Canada Post: Canada Post is the country's largest retail and logistics network, and as a Crown Corporation, all of us own it.
Contrary to popular belief, our postal service is profitable, and has been for most of the past two decades.
Why should we adopt postal banking? Canada's big banks took in $35 billion in profits last year while cutting jobs and raising service fees at the same time.
Many communities across Canada have post offices, but no bank branches. A postal bank is an affordable, local solution that can also invest in the community.
Dozens of countries around the world, including New Zealand, France and Italy, have profitable and successful postal banking services. There's no reason why we can't too.
Canada has far to go to meet the emissions reductions we committed to at the Paris climate conference. Renewable energy has huge economic potential for Canada. We can create hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Interested readers can learn more at Delivering-CommunityPower. ca.
Lynn Daoust
