Ian Lee’s paper on Canada Post serves as a great guide for Ottawa as it examines ways to make Canada’s national mail carrier sustainable
OTTAWA, May 6, 2016 – If Canada’s new government is looking for ideas on how to reform our national mail carrier, a great place to start would be the Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s paper sketching out fixes for Canada Post.
Ian Lee, the author of MLI’s 2015 paper on saving Canada Post, is available to comment on the government’s review of the national mail carrier’s operations.
Canada Post previously planned to cut back on home mail delivery. But the mail carrier put those plans on hold last fall after the newly-elected government promised to restore home mail delivery.
Now, says Public Services and Procurement Minister Judy Foote, the government may not be fully restoring home mail delivery after all. Instead, Foote says, Ottawa will embark on a review of Canada Post to see if it’s viable to keep delivering to people’s homes.
At the heart of the review is the question: How can Canada Post remain sustainable even as Canadians send less mail with each passing year?
The Macdonald-Laurier Institute is no stranger to that question. Lee delivered the most comprehensive review of Canada Post’s operations in his 2015 paper.
Among Lee’s recommendations: Replacing all door-to-door mail delivery with community mailboxes, reducing the number of days on which mail is delivered, franchising rural post offices, and eliminating Canada Post’s monopoly on mail delivery.
These are the best options at Ottawa’s disposal, says Lee, for ensuring Canada Post remains sustainable.
To arrange an interview with Lee, please contact Mark Brownlee, communications manager, at 613-482-8327 x105 or email at mark.brownlee@macdonaldlaurier.ca.
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Ian Lee teaches strategic management at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business.
The Macdonald-Laurier Institute is the only non-partisan, independent national public policy think tank in Ottawa focusing on the full range of issues that fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government.
For more information, please contact Mark Brownlee, communications manager, at 613-482-8327 x105 or email at mark.brownlee@macdonaldlaurier.ca.
