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It's nice to see that we no longer trust privatization as a the magic wand that solves public institution problems.
That said I think the 52% support for non-union gig work in Canada Post is indicative of the mindset that needs shifting if Canada is to change course in a way that makes most people better off long term.
Source: https://angusreid.org/canada-post-privatization-strike-service-disruption-vote-union/
It’s a service that’s mostly used by businesses to send junk mail to everyone. The letter mail stuff almost entirely consists of financial statements and bills (so also business). Since CP is losing a ton of money, they’re effectively subsidizing all these businesses with below-cost mail delivery.
When was the last time you corresponded with someone via letter mail? I can’t even remember the last letter I got. It must’ve been years ago. Why do we need daily delivery for that?
because
But I still fucking pay for those! This is a society and we do that; don't be selfish.
Financial statements can be sent electronically. We are literally creating huge volumes of paper, spending a ton of money and creating a ton of CO2 and other industrial waste, just to send a bit of information that could’ve been an email that most people just throw away without reading anyway.
Buses and roads are used by millions to get to work/school. Police are protecting you even if you never call them (countries without credible police are extremely dangerous; police have an extremely powerful deterrent effect against organized crime). Even if you’ve never driven or used a bus you’ve definitely eaten food that has travelled on a road multiple times before reaching you (unless you live on a commune out in the country in which case you probably shouldn’t be paying taxes for all that stuff).
Anyway the point wasn’t even that there shouldn’t be a postal service, just that we don’t need daily delivery. If we eliminated non-addressed mail and made all financial statements electronic then the postal workers would be driving empty vans around town every day. We could easily switch to weekly delivery without impacting service much at all.
I don't agree with you on mail at all. Not everything can be emailed to you. My bills are emailed/texted to me... But I still get some finicial papers, forms, and letters sent via the mail. I also get packages still delivered via canada post. You can mail in election votes. I depend on it.
The point is: do you need that stuff delivered daily? Or would it be fine if it only came on Fridays?
You made it sound like you are for privatization. I am good getting my mail once a week. As long as it is free. I depend on it.
It’s not free. It’s never been free. It’s $1.23 per letter for mail. But that $1.23 is way below cost. Canada Post lost over a billion dollars in 2024. The question is who should pay for the shortfall?
I think big companies sending out all those financial statements and bills should be paying more for postage. Others around here seem to think taxpayers should be subsidizing their postage. That makes no sense to me! We’re talking about billion dollar corporations. Why do they need a subsidy to send people mail?
Because it's one of their revenue streams. Nationalize Canada Post, stop caring about revenue and stop delivering non-addressed mail.
Canada Post is already a crown corporation, but it is managed like a private corpo for whatever fucking weird reason.
Lots of private interests trying to get their greasy finger into Canada Post and suck it dry.
What about all the packages they deliver from all sorts of businesses around Canada and the world. Most of the stuff I order ships with CP. Just received some coffee from Montreal. This should be subsidized. If freight was more expensive I would be buying a lot less from small businesses across Canada.
The volume of packages is very low compared to letters. I work in a mail room. We send out upwards of 10,000 letters per day. We also send out packages but the number is fewer than 100.
That makes sense. It is probably different for a shop that ships products to people.