The vice-president of national affairs at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), Jasmin Guénette, explains that several companies here still pay their employees through checks sent by mail.
The businesses most affected would be those located in remote regions, where “Canada Post is the only service available,” said Mr. Guénette.
Impacts in the charitable sector have also been noted. The Saint-Vincent-de-Paul Society says it has noticed a drop in donations since the start of the conflict.
“More than half of donations are still made by mail. We are talking about 25,000 to 30,000 letters that we receive,” explained Romain Dugué, general director of the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul Society.
Should we privatize Canada Post?
University researcher Simon Tremblay-Pépin participated in a study in 2014 on whether Canada Post should be privatized. Ten years later, he still thinks it was a bad idea.
“We couldn’t send letters like that anymore. We could just operate through courier services,” explained Mr. Tremblay-Pépin, who recalled that Canada Post found itself with a deficit of $750 million.
Privatized, Canada Post would become another courier company on the market and could raise its prices.
“We could use the same express courier companies on the market at the moment. Why don’t we use them? Because it’s very expensive,” he said.
See Lili Mercure’s report in the video.
Canada
