I have no problem with Canada Post operating at a loss, but not while that effectively means taxpayer dollars subsidizing the private businesses dominating all easy, high-volume routes using underpaid gig labor. CP are getting penalized at both ends, as are we. The only other way I can think to frame it is urban taxpayers subsidizing rural and especially remote communities, which I’m sure will be very popular while public transit remains wholly inadequate.
I don’t know how to solve any of that internally, nor just within shipping. It’s most likely far from feasible to mandate every shipping company and-who-counts-as-such? deliver to every corner of Canada, or even of just certain regions. But putting an end to gig work by closing the contracting loopholes would be a good start. And start forcing all employers with more than 10 employees – including contracted sole proprietorships – to maintain a supermajority of labor hours being supplied through salaried full-time positions. Even that disrupts actual independent professionals, but at least it would still be a level playing field.
Anyway, it seems to me like most of the real problems and their origins are external to Canada Post itself — so it makes sense that there may not be any kind of internal solution.
I have no problem with Canada Post operating at a loss, but not while that effectively means taxpayer dollars subsidizing the private businesses dominating all easy, high-volume routes using underpaid gig labor. CP are getting penalized at both ends, as are we. The only other way I can think to frame it is urban taxpayers subsidizing rural and especially remote communities, which I’m sure will be very popular while public transit remains wholly inadequate.
I don’t know how to solve any of that internally, nor just within shipping. It’s most likely far from feasible to mandate every shipping company and-who-counts-as-such? deliver to every corner of Canada, or even of just certain regions. But putting an end to gig work by closing the contracting loopholes would be a good start. And start forcing all employers with more than 10 employees – including contracted sole proprietorships – to maintain a supermajority of labor hours being supplied through salaried full-time positions. Even that disrupts actual independent professionals, but at least it would still be a level playing field.
Anyway, it seems to me like most of the real problems and their origins are external to Canada Post itself — so it makes sense that there may not be any kind of internal solution.
The simple solution I see is making Canada post a tax funded public service again, and restructuring it as such.