Thoughts on BC Politics and More

The Carney government’s move to let police forces seize and search small mail will mostly affect people who order illicit drugs through the post and represents a doubling down on “war on drugs” policies, experts say. “It’s not surprising because police organizations have been lobbying for this for over a decade,” said Ted Rutland, an associate professor of geography, planning and environment at Concordia University. Rutland studies urban policing and security as part of his work ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

Canada is seeing a spike in strikes — and as tariffs and the affordability crisis continue to hit workers hard, unions warn of more action on the horizon. Some labour leaders say that includes a potential battle with a federal government that has repeatedly sent them back to work. "We're preparing for the fight that's ahead," said Alisha Kang, president of the Union of National Employees. "The movement is done with lip service"  ... CLICK HERE for the full story

... “If this vote passes, we give Canada Post the green light to steamroll workers now and in the future ... By saying yes, we tell them that it’s acceptable to ignore free and fair collective bargaining, dismiss our union’s democratic processes and structures and send a message to governments that it’s OK to trample over your rights as a worker” ... ... Canada Post is at an impasse with the union representing roughly 55,000 postal service workers after more than a year and a half of talks ... CLICK HERE for the full story

The saga at Canada Post continues, and once again the government is heeding management’s call to bail them out.  On May 30, Canada Post requested that new minister of jobs and families (Canada no longer has a minister of labour, if you hadn’t heard), Patty Hajdu, force Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) members to vote directly on the crown corporation’s “final” offer.  Canada Post’s ostensible final offer to the 55,000 members of CUPW included a compounded wage increase of 13.59 per cent over four years and up to $1,000 as a signing bonus, but still contained plans to expand part-time work and significantly reorganize the labour process ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

On Friday, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) imposed an overtime ban at Canada Post, the first of what could prove to be a series of escalating job actions if new collective agreements are not soon reached. CUPW issued Canada Post a 72-hour strike notice on May 20, after which the employer tabled final offers that the union said “fall short.” Despite the shortcomings, the union requested a two-week “truce” to consider the proposals more fully, which Canada Post flatly rejected. As a strike deadline approached on May 22, it looked as though a full nation-wide work stoppage would resume. However, after having its previous strike suspended by the federal government, the union has instead opted for a more measured approach, for now. The current situation was entirely predictable. When the government interfered with CUPW’s strike in December, it effectively undermined the union’s strategic power without helping to resolve the underlying issues driving the strike — most notably, Ca...

It’s been a year since I wrote Preparing for Canada Post's Imminent Collapse. Granted, by at least some definitions of the word “collapse”, my prophecy has yet to materialize. Although when you add the coming strike to the 32 day labour disruption from late last year, junk mail-free days may well end up outnumbering junk mail deliveries for the foreseeable future. The truth is that I don’t enjoy thinking about Canada Post and its troubles. I rarely use the service myself and reading through their annual reports and external analyses can be downright depressing. The Crown corporation, in its current form, is unable to escape a combination of a letter delivery market destroyed by email and other digital technologies, a parcel delivery space where they just can’t compete, and labour costs unconnected to business value ... CLICK HERE for the full story

As Canada Post and the union representing its workers inch closer to another potential strike, a report by the commission charged with examining the Crown corporation's finances has called for the end of door-to-door mail delivery to homes — one of the main reasons for the previous work stoppage in November. But the report, authored by industrial inquiry commissioner William Kaplan, also says that daily delivery to businesses should be maintained. The service cut would help the corporation's overall bleak financial picture, the report notes, a situation it highlights in great detail ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Last December, my father-in-law sent Christmas cards to my sons, who live with me in Virginia. They received them at the end of January, after more than a month of waiting anxiously. My family members weren’t the only ones who experienced this delay: millions of Canadians nationwide watched their holiday mail languish in a postal limbo as Canada Post’s 32-day strike soured the season’s cheer. I’ve covered the mail service’s mounting troubles since 2011, so I wasn’t entirely shocked when the federal government offered Canada Post a staggering financial bailout—of more than $1 billion—back in January. The move signalled both the depth of our postal system’s woes and the urgent need for it to adapt to a fast-evolving parcel market. Now, with their collective agreement set to expire on May 22, postal workers are poised to strike again, upping the urgency of a permanent fix even more. As communication shifted to texts and emails, and shipping services like Amazon have grown in popularity, C...

Canada Post as we know it can’t be saved. This has been a reality for decades even if delusional unions won’t accept it and callow politicians won’t deal with it. The Crown Corporation has lost $3 billion since 2018 and the losses are growing by the year. Home delivery of letter mail was the prime service Canada Post provided. That service peaked in 2006 with 5.5 billion letters delivered. In 2023 that number of letters had dropped to 2.2 billion and it will only continue to drop ... CLICK HERE for the full story

It’s Day Seven ... time to look back at the most read commentaries and stories of the week -- today also marks the 848 th post on this blog. The first, regarding democratic reform of our political system was from May 25 th , 2015 – it was entitled, “ Political reform does not need to wait until the next parliament; reform is an ongoing process ” It’s a theme that I have often been vocal on ... and other writers who have kindly consented to contribute their thoughts to this blog have occasionally done so as well. Democratic reform of our political system shouldn’t just be a string of buzz words that get drug out occasionally -- especially when so type of scandal or controversy takes place.   It’s something we should be demanding, it’s something our elected officials should be thinking of at all times when new laws are being considered and brought before the House of Commons, our Legislature, or municipal council tables. Is this something that wi...

Bank's withdrawal upsets Tamworth residents Raechel Huizinga ~~ Kingston Whig Standard ~~ July 2, 2019 ...   Canada’s rural communities have been losing local banks by the hundreds. Tamworth, a small community half an hour north of Napanee, with a population of approximately 1,700, is no exception ... the (Ontario) hamlet’s CIBC bank branch — which is also the only banking location in Stone Mills Township (pop. 7,700) — closed, taking its single ATM with it and forcing customers to travel to Napanee for services such as cash withdrawals and deposits. “It’s a hardship for all of these small communities, which are already under pressure and often in states of decline,” Tamworth resident Mark Oliver said. “It’s a very slippery slope before there’s not much left.” A task force travelled across Canada to gather information and hear from different organizations and stakeholders, but Bossio said he was told postal banking would be too difficult to accomplish. ...