Canada Post to stop home mail delivery

[Zarley]

I forgot this was part of the Liberal platform. What an idiotic decision.

Home mail delivery is going the way of the dodo bird. I don't receive any important communication through the mail anymore and check it twice a month.

[The Yen Man]

Nice, more taxpayer money to prop up an archaic system that 2/3 of people in Canada deal without. What makes that 1/3 so special?

[Fuzz]

Well, the other G20 countries still have home mail delivery, why is Canada's so unnecessary and "archaic"? Given the large increase in online shopping, I'd think Canada Post would be in a good position to capitalize on that and home deliveries would be a big asset.

[FlamesAddiction]

The mandate for Canada Post is to operate at "arm's length" as long as it is "self-sufficient". They should have an opportunity to do that by offering more services, not fewer.

All the new government wants to do is halt the process of installing central delivery boxes while they look into the possibility of alternatives.

[Azure]

One would have to think the jobs being lost should be made up because of increased shipping from retailers like Amazon.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Well, the other G20 countries still have home mail delivery, why is Canada's so unnecessary and "archaic"? Given the large increase in online shopping, I'd think Canada Post would be in a good position to capitalize on that and home deliveries would be a big asset.

So by your logic, basically anything Canada does differently from the G20 is bad. We should always just follow what other countries do.

Look, if home delivery is so good for Canada Post, why aren't they converting the 2/3 of us who don't currently have it back to it? I bet it's because of cost. So if there's cost savings, why aren't we converting the 1/3 who still get it to the better model?

[Fuzz]

Well you aren't going to do door to door delivery for apartments, obviously, and new communites are designed with these things in mind. Older communities aren't.

It seams the original reason for this was more of an ideological one, and one to weaken our postal system, not strengthen it. There were plenty of articles about it when the decision was first made.

[polak]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Well, the other G20 countries still have home mail delivery, why is Canada's so unnecessary and "archaic"? Given the large increase in online shopping, I'd think Canada Post would be in a good position to capitalize on that and home deliveries would be a big asset.

Population density and country area say hi.

[Joborule]

I'm actually bothered that they've poured the concrete base near my house, but haven't put up the mailbox yet. What a waste of money to delay it at this point. It's gonna happen because it's smart economically.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Well, the other G20 countries still have home mail delivery, why is Canada's so unnecessary and "archaic"? Given the large increase in online shopping, I'd think Canada Post would be in a good position to capitalize on that and home deliveries would be a big asset.

Because we're freaking HUGE.

Guess what, most G20 countries have a population density that leaves us in the dust.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

The mandate for Canada Post is to operate at "arm's length" as long as it is "self-sufficient". They should have an opportunity to do that by offering more services, not fewer.

All the new government wants to do is halt the process of installing central delivery boxes while they look into the possibility of alternatives.

Canada post wanted to end door to door delivery to reduce cost. So if you believe it at cost arms length operation you should be upset with this interference in operations.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Well you aren't going to do door to door delivery for apartments, obviously, and new communites are designed with these things in mind. Older communities aren't.

It seams the original reason for this was more of an ideological one, and one to weaken our postal system, not strengthen it. There were plenty of articles about it when the decision was first made.

The original reason was ridiculous cost savings. If door to door is important to the postal system why aren't new communities built with door to door in mind.

This is pure latte sipper subsidy that was used to buy votes.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I thought I had read an article a while ago that said it wasn't going to make all that much difference in funding to Canada Post, and it was an ideological move. Even the shortfall for a year or so was fudged to make it look like they were in trouble. Might have to hunt for that, after coffee.....

Canada Post lost money in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Over $500 million combined. The losses were even greater if you removed their subsidiary companies like Purolator. At the time the decision to end home delivery was made, there were fears that Canada Post would be losing up to $1 billion a year by 2020. Last year turned out to be the exception, as Canada Post turned a $300 million profit.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by GGG

This is pure latte sipper subsidy that was used to buy votes.

I think you're confusing latte sippers with the geriatric crowd.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by GGG

This is pure latte sipper subsidy that was used to buy votes.

My guess is that they'll pay it lip service and do a review, which will conclude that it makes sense to continue with the plan to eliminate door-to-door service.


So, what happens with all the neighbourhoods that have been recently converted from door-to-door to Super Mailboxes? Do they stay that way now, or do they revert to door-to-door?

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

I think you're confusing latte sippers with the geriatric crowd.

Not really. A buddy of mine, in his early 30s, was livid at losing his home delivery. Because of the inconvenience of having to walk a block to get his mail.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Canada Post lost money in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Over $500 million combined. The losses were even greater if you removed their subsidiary companies like Purolator. At the time the decision to end home delivery was made, there were fears that Canada Post would be losing up to $1 billion a year by 2020. Last year turned out to be the exception, as Canada Post turned a $300 million profit.

Funny that those losses happened in the years Deepak Chopra was in charge. I wouldn't put it past him to have done some creative accounting to show those big losses to push his ideology. The number I had read was losses up to $1 billion total by 2020, not per year.

I don't really care that much about home delivery, but this was one of Harper's steamrolling plans that caught people off guard and didn't seam well researched. It seamed rife with shoddy dealing s and ridiculous explanations "seniors will get more exercise!" that has me questioning the motives more than anything. If Trudeau wants them to take a step back and re-examine, I don't have a problem with that.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Funny that those losses happened in the years Deepak Chopra was in charge. I wouldn't put it past him to have done some creative accounting to show those big losses to push his ideology. The number I had read was losses up to $1 billion total by 2020, not per year.

"Falling mail volumes will result in Canada Post losing a billion dollars a year by 2020, the Conference Board of Canada said..."

I don't really care that much about home delivery, but this was one of Harper's steamrolling plans that caught people off guard and didn't seam well researched. It seamed rife with shoddy dealing s and ridiculous explanations "seniors will get more exercise!" that has me questioning the motives more than anything. If Trudeau wants them to take a step back and re-examine, I don't have a problem with that.

Except for the fact that Trudeau is only wasting our tax dollars to stop it and will have to waste even more tax dollars to roll it back or to re-start it. So, great. The one thing Trudeau has actually done so far is a huge, pointless waste. If that is going to be his modus operandi, then we're in trouble.

Also, you do realize that only a small minority of this country gets home delivery as it is, right? That is the exception, not the norm, and cutting out a wasteful, antiquated process that only costs us money is not a "steamrolling plan" or "not well researched".

[Zarley]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I don't really care that much about home delivery, but this was one of Harper's steamrolling plans that caught people off guard and didn't seam well researched.

Are you implying that Stephen Harper was direclty involved in the decision to end door-to-door delivery? Do you have any evidence of this?

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Zarley

Are you implying that Stephen Harper was direclty involved in the decision to end door-to-door delivery? Do you have any evidence of this?

I think we all know that during Stephen Harper's reign anything bad that happened was a result of his direct decree.