POSTAL Q&A
Home delivery unsustainable: Canada Post
Canada Post’s plan to phase out home delivery by 2018 has met resistance in Montreal. Jacques Côté, head of the mail processing and delivery network for Canada Post, answered questions about the controversial conversion plan.
Montreal Gazette: Are you surprised by the backlash to the conversion, especially here in Quebec?
Jacques Côté: Surprised? We know that those changes are difficult. Believe me, if we could, we’d do nothing. If we don’t do anything, we’ll become a huge burden for society because we’ll lose hundreds of millions of dollars. And that’s fairly quickly. ... We are trying to do what is best for the postal system in the long run, which preserves the ability to generate revenue and to offer a decent service to Canadians.
MG: Canada Post will become Canada Ghost if door- to- door delivery ends. Is it possible to keep home delivery for those who already have it, and just implement it in new communities?
JC: We’ve been doing that for 35 years. It costs us about $ 298 to deliver to a home door- todoor. When we go to community mailboxes, it is about $ 113 to $ 116 per address, per year. So there’s a substantial reduction in costs. Obviously, our revenues are declining and we need to adjust our costs accordingly.
MG: Didn’t Canada Post turn a profit this year?
JC: We will turn a profit in 2014. But you will remember that in the spring or late winter of 2013, we had a significant price increase of 30 per cent, so this profit is all generated by this price increase. But this is not something we can do year after year after year. … Considering the business we have, if we keep pricing up this way we will kill it.
MG: Westmount Mayor Peter Trent has said he would block any attempt to have community mailboxes installed in his city. He thinks they’re an eyesore.
JC: What we say is that when we work with municipalities, it’s been proven on the ( mailboxes) sites we’ve done so far, we find good solutions. In the 11 municipalities we did in the fall, after consultation with citizens and municipalities, we changed 50 per cent of the sites we were originally proposing. So we’ve been listening. ... And if you go into those communities now, the boxes have been installed and life presses on.
MG: What’s your reaction to the federal court challenge by the postal union to prevent the end of home delivery?
JC: Well, we’ve been delivering to community mailboxes for close to 35 years. … We developed this program with professionals to make sure we meet the law, the obligation under the law, which we are happy to do. So we feel confident we are good on the legal front.
MG: Isn’t there a concern about ending home delivery to the elderly and disabled?
JC: We’ve got a policy to leave nobody behind. We’ve got an accommodation centre. We ask a health care professional to fill out a form and work with them to find a solution. And if nothing can work for them, we’re going to bring them their mail at home once a week.
MG: Once a week isn’t very often. Couldn’t they deliver more often than once a week?
JC: For the accommodation, I think we are going to do it once a week.
MG: It is true they would need a doctor’s note to get their mail delivered?
JC: We ask a professional. ... Same thing as the ministry of transport in Quebec would have a professional note for handicapped parking, for example.
MG: You’ve seen the state of roads in Montreal this winter. They’re very slippery, very icy. They’re barely suitable for anyone to walk on, let alone a senior or disabled person. Is that a concern?
JC: It is, obviously, something that we’re mindful of. But again, we’ve got four million households that are already on community mailboxes. So we know that the solution works. It’s been proven. For those who are challenged, we’ll be happy to accommodate them.
MG: Are there plans to eventually privatize Canada Post?
JC: It has never been discussed with me. We have a mandate where the user pays. Those type of things are government policy. It’s not something that is discussed with the management of Canada Post.