We got a push from the left of the political spectrum the other day for a proposal unveiled in 2016 to transform and green Canada’s dying postal service. It was new to me and I like it. For too long, we have been watching the post office clutch at straws to stay viable in an electronic world. This plan involves some serious thinking. It came from the postal unions and a leading thinker from the new democratic party. It needs to be given strong consideration.
I like the idea because it addresses more than one problem. It provides cooperative solutions. And I like it because it must have come forward without need for political trappings. It has meat. It fills serious needs and it can have a solid impact on our country’s future.
It has taken the demise of local newspapers to see the current rebirth of direct mail advertising and parcel deliver for Internet purchases to keep the post office in business. Neither of those business opportunities can be the core that will give the postal service a future.
This plan, sponsored by the national president of the postal workers, the national president of the post masters and their assistants, and Stephen Lewis’ son Avi, is multi-facetted. It encompasses a new national banking system based on Canada Post. It envisages fleets of electric-powered postal vehicles. It talks of the potential for the postal service to be more pro-active in serving the public.
There is no question but in Canada that the chartered banks have become caught up in their corporate roles as they see themselves as the body servants of the business world. Nobody is looking after the poor, the shut-in, or persons working multiple part-time jobs to look after their families. The postal service can bring community banking to them.
There is a huge market out there of Canadians without smart phones, without Internet, who need the postal service to deliver something more than advertising and bills. And we can help keep the environment clean for our grandchildren while we are at it.
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Copyright 2018 © Peter Lowry
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