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From: Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv
Subject: [OT] Time to close down the Post Office?
Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2024 22:22:10 -0500
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We're nearly three weeks into a postal strike here in Canada. Lorne 
Gunter makes the point that almost no one is affected by the strike so 
maybe it's time to think about closing the Post Office altogether.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fZh5Fp093U [5 minutes]

I can't argue that he's wrong. I think we've been trending this way for 
a long time. Many years ago, the government, presumably in an attempt to 
placate the postal unions, made it law that ONLY the Post Office could 
carry letters and they also enacted in law that for package delivery, 
couriers had to charge at least 3 times what Canada Post charged. I'm 
not sure if those laws are in effect but if they were eliminated, the 
many courier companies could easily compete with Canada Post WITHOUT 
losing hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars every year to make up 
the shortfall at Canada Post.

I literally haven't bought stamps in several years; the last time I did, 
they were at least $1.50 each. (I'm old enough to remember when stamps 
were 3 cents and the mail got delivered Monday through Saturday; we lost 
Saturday delivery decades ago.) I do everything I used to do via mail 
online and I'm sure most Canadians are in the same boat.

There may be a case to be made for some kind of subsidy for mail 
delivery to remote communities. We have communities in this country that 
can only be reached by air because they are out beyond the roads so it 
may not be possible for private companies to make a profit delivering to 
those places. Then again, they pay more for EVERYTHING ELSE already so 
maybe there wouldn't be much sympathy for a subsidy for mail/packages.

In any case, I think that ending Canada Post is an idea whose time has 
come - provided reasonable alternatives exist.

-- 
Rhino