Canada Post Corporation is losing money. In the last six years, it’s lost $3 billion. Hard to believe if you’ve sent a package lately. To send a medium-sized book anywhere in the country will cost you around $20. Anyone remember when there used to be a special “book rate”? I guess in decades past, Canada wanted to encourage its citizens to read and kept costs down to facilitate the sharing and giving of books. That’s gone now.

In 1970, the domestic letter rate was 6 cents; it went up to 7 cents in 1971. Of course, everything has gone up, due partially to inflation. But the difference between 6 cents and $1.15 (the proposed new price of a single letter stamp) is nothing to sneeze at. Of course, the volume of letters has decreased with the surge in electronic communications; and the number of addresses served has increased. But so have the demands and expectations of workers and executives. It’s understandable that mail carriers expect wage increases to keep up with cost-of-living increases. How to determine what’s fair and equitable? It’s human nature to ask for more, and today’s highly-paid union bosses certainly will encourage their dues-paying members to demand more.

Executive salaries are another matter. I could not find the current salary of Canada Post’s CEO, Doug Ettinger, but information gleaned from 2016 indicated the highest salary at Canada Post was $500,000 to $700,000 with average executive salaries coming in at $129,238. I can guarantee that those numbers have gone up, not down. Of course, the workforce receives less and with more hard physical labour—actually lifting, carrying and delivering packages and 2.2 billion letters in 2023. But it begs the question: prices are up; why can’t Canada Post pay its bills?

I’ve noticed that sending a parcel these days takes a lot more time at the counter, as employees (even those I would call personally efficient and good at their jobs) have to spend more time entering information into the computer. There must have been a logical reason for the procedural changes, but I can’t say that service has become faster or more efficient. I don’t blame the employees; I blame the process designers. When it takes longer to do a job, it’s going to cost more in employee wages.

Then there’s the constant factor in the rising cost of everything: carbon taxes. Canada Post has taken the climate change narrative seriously and it has affected their bottom line. They have purchased some electric vehicles (always expensive), and their corporate culture now emphasizes ESG goals (Environmental, Social and Governance). The virtue-signalling in support of government talking points also has a cost. To offset some of their costs, they now charge a “fuel surcharge” for parcel deliveries. To me, that’s just plain weird. When I pay to have a parcel delivered, I assume that the organization selling me that service is going to take into account all their costs when setting a price: labour, buildings, vehicles, internet, fuel, etc. Why does the cost of fuel get added on later? It seems like a gimmick used to pretend the cost isn’t quite as high as it really is.

So, alongside other government agencies and crown corporations, Canada Post has been running in the red for six years and appears to have no plan to change . . . and certainly no plan to provide better service at lower costs for individuals and families who depend on the postal system.

When I was a kid, I remember hearing this noble sentiment from the U.S. Postal Service: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” I always thought that was a good attitude and it gave me confidence that postal service providers were working hard to deliver—safely and efficiently—those letters, cards and parcels we all loved to send and receive.

I’d like to have that confidence again. Canada cannot afford to run in the red. Canada can’t afford to have its agencies and crown corporations run in the red. The Christian Heritage Party would introduce mandatory balanced budgets and would insist that all those working for the government or representing the government do the same.