Vancouver, B.C. >>> The Fraser Institute has filed a 20-page brief with the Canada Post Mandate Review in the expectation of being called to present its submission at a public meeting this spring.
Dr. Gordon Davies, policy analyst at The Fraser Institute and author of A Proposal to Reorganize the Provision of Postal Services in Canada, recommends that the Government of Canada:
• Revoke Canada Post Corporation's (CPC) monopoly on the delivery of letters in Canada;
• Reconstitute the Lettermail, Addressed Admail and Retail Counter Operations into a new enterprise and make common shares in this enterprise available for purchase by the general public;
• Oblige CPC to divest itself of its Unaddressed Admail business by making its limited flyer distribution infrastructure, related information systems, and flyer customer base available for purchase by private entrepreneurs on a regional or national basis;
• Segment all of CPC's parcel, package and courier business operations physically and financially from the rest of its operations and put these assets up for private bids; and
• Direct CPC to end its Mirabel-like electronic and "hybrid" mail services.
"We need to start building a new, modernly-organized postal system," said Davies, former senior manager of business assessment and strategic planning at Canada Post. "At one point in our history, Canadians may have needed and wanted the federal government to provide all our postal services, but, today, private operators can do the job faster and more economically."
According to Dr. Davies, many of Canada Post's services merely duplicate more economically viable services provided by private operators. "But CPC never gets put to the market test because it can use its monopoly on letter mail services as a financial backstop against its money-losing operations."
For a copy of A Proposal to Reorganize the Provision of Postal Services in Canada, please contact David Hanley at (604) 688-0221, ext. 582, or visit our Web site at http://www.fraserinstitute.ca.
Contact: Gordon Davies, The Fraser Institute, (604) 688-0221, ext. 314.