The future of 3,361 rural Canada Post outlets remains uncertain after the federal government lifted a decades-old ban on rural post office closures, prompting demands in Parliament for answers and changes to the Crown corporation's leadership.Blacklock's Reporter says Conservative MP Brad Vis (Mission-Matsqui, B.C.) raised concerns in the House of Commons while presenting petitions from constituents worried about losing postal services in rural and remote communities.“Canadians are worried about the sustainability of Canada Post in rural communities across Canada,” Vis told MPs.“We know there are serious problems with the management and oversight of public finances through the Crown corporation right here in Ottawa.”Vis criticized Canada Post's management for failing to modernize its operations and respond to changing consumer demands.“They have not been nimble or quick enough to serve Canadian interests and adapt to modern technology,” he said.“These petitioners are calling for a change in leadership at Canada Post here in Ottawa to save rural postal services.”The petitions call on the federal government to restore a moratorium introduced in 1994 that protected rural post offices from closure.The moratorium was established following the closure or privatization of retail postal services in more than 1,500 Canadian communities over seven years.Petitioners want cabinet to “reinstate the moratorium on the closure of rural post offices and instruct Canada Post to explore opportunities to strengthen the rural postal network.”They argue rural post offices provide essential services to communities where residents may have limited access to other government facilities.“The Postal Service Charter ensures ‘the provision of postal services to rural regions of the country is an integral part of Canada Post’s universal service,’” the petition states.“The post office is often the only physical presence of the federal government in rural and remote communities.”Canada Post has not identified which of the 3,361 rural outlets could be closed following the suspension of the moratorium.On October 14, the Crown corporation began posting notices at selected locations inviting customers to participate in an online survey about their postal needs..Customers were asked to “complete a short online survey about the services they use, need and want,” according to a management statement.Canada Post did not disclose which locations were selected for the consultation process.The uncertainty follows testimony from Canada Post CEO Doug Ettinger, who told the Commons government operations committee on June 18 that lifting the moratorium would allow the corporation to reconsider its retail network.Ettinger described the change as a “once in a lifetime opportunity to renew and reestablish Canada Post to serve the growing needs of our country.”He insisted no decisions had been made about which outlets would remain open.“We are going to look at traffic in these stores, we are going to look at revenue in these stores,” Ettinger testified.“We are going to look at stores nearby. We are going to look at all the feedback and make decisions thoughtfully. Nothing has been decided.”Ettinger said management would consider the impact on residents before making changes to postal services.“We are very empathetic to the rural areas and the urban areas,” he said.“We don’t want to move too quickly and surprise people. We want to get their feedback.”However, he acknowledged that communities with several post offices located close together could see some outlets shut down.“I mean, if there’s five little post offices within 10 kilometres, probably that’s an area we are going to be looking for, to close one or more,” Ettinger said.“But we’ll look at maybe increasing the hours in another one.”The CEO maintained the corporation had not developed an internal list of locations targeted for closure.“We have not made any decisions even internally on which post offices we think should stay or go,” he said.“We are working on making sure we have the right program to engage with people.”For rural Canadians, the removal of the 1994 protections has raised concerns about whether postal services will remain accessible in smaller communities.Vis and the petitioners are demanding the federal government restore those protections before Canada Post proceeds with any closures.
