The restoration of door-to-door mail delivery across Canada remained in limbo on Thursday as Minister of Public Services and Procurement Judy Foote officially launched a review of Canada Post.
Foote was asked repeatedly by reporters about a possible timeline for restoring home delivery for those who were moved over to community mailboxes under the previous Conservative government. She was also asked if it was possible the government could decide not to restore home delivery to those households at all.
“I’m not going to pre-judge the outcome,” Foote said. “Nothing is being ruled out in terms of home delivery.”
The outcome will depend entirely on the findings of a special four-person panel now in charge of the review. Once the panel issues its findings, a parliamentary committee will launch public consultations and submit recommendations to the government for overhauling the postal service.
READ MORE: A timeline of Canada Post’s contentious community mailboxes
It’s all supposed to happen before the end of 2016.
“There’s a potential option here for restoring home delivery,” Foote noted, adding that a restoration could be only partial, and may only apply for a few days a week.
WATCH: President of Canada’s Postal Workers Union calls community mailbox system “a disastrous failure”
The minister refused to acknowledge if the Liberals were, in fact, breaking a campaign promise made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by deferring a decision on home delivery until after the review is completed.
During last fall’s election campaign, Trudeau was quoted as saying that “on Canada Post, we promise to restore home delivery.”
WATCH: Ministers talk about Liberal promise to restore home delivery
The Liberal platform was more vague, however, pledging the following:
“We will stop Stephen Harper’s plan to end door-to-door mail delivery in Canada and undertake a new review of Canada Post to make sure that it provides high-quality service at a reasonable price to Canadians, no matter where they live.”
Foote said that she feels Canadians “will understand that it has to be a reasonable cost” if home delivery is indeed fully restored. She could not give a specific number for how much it would cost to return households that have already been moved to community mailboxes back to home delivery.
Postal banking on the table
Foote was also asked about the possibility of returning to a postal banking system, which Canada had until the 1960s.
“We’re not ruling out anything, but of course it will be entirely up to the task force,” she said of the proposal, which has been championed by several unions. “As long as what the services are what Canadians need and can be delivered at a reasonable cost.”
READ MORE: Can building a bank save Canada Post?
According to Foote, the one thing that definitely won’t be happening is privatization of Canada’s postal service.
Privatization “is not on the table,” she said.
The members of the special task force are:
- Françoise Bertrand (Quebec) – chair
- Marena McLaughlin (New Brunswick)
- Krystyna T. Hoeg (Ontario)
- Jim Hopson (Saskatchewan).
Canadians can get involved in the Canada Post Review by visiting canada.ca/canadapostreview
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