Casey unsure that door-to-door delivery will be restored
Member of Parliament for Charlottetown Sean Casey said he is not as confident as he was two years ago that the Canada Post review will lead to the restoration of door-to-door delivery, but he is hopeful the government will make the right decision.
The Minister of Public Services and Procurement Judy Foote had promised that a decision on home delivery would be announced this past spring — but the government is now saying it will announce its decision before the end of 2017.
"I'd rather see it get done correctly than quickly," said Casey. "I do hope that all of the commitments we made during the campaign will be honoured, and I've personally pressed the prime minister, the minister and the committee to that effect."
Restoration of the service is not as promising as it was before
However, he's not as confident of the restoration as he was.
The previous Conservative government made the controversial decision in 2013 to phase out door-to-door delivery in favour of community mailboxes, arguing that it was necessary in the face of looming financial difficulties for Canada Post. The Liberal Party promised to save the service as part of their 2015 platform, and Casey stood by that promise.
"The very fact that this was one of the items that was examined by the committee caused me some trouble," he said. "Because if we were to strictly maintain what we said during the campaign, it should not have been on the table. Clearly it is. I do hope that we end up making the right decision, but I'm not as confident as I was with the unequivocal statement that was made in the Liberal platform during the campaign."
'We want to make sure to get it right'
"Our government is delivering on its promise to suspend the conversion to community mailboxes and undertake a review of Canada Post," said a spokesperson for Minister Foote in an earlier email to CBC. "It's a complex issue and we want to make sure to get it right for all Canadians."
The president of the union representing postal workers previously told CBC he's not buying that explanation.
"We've given lots of opportunities for this government to get this right, and unfortunately they've decided to delay, dither and do nothing," said Mike Palecek, national president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.
'This is a big, complicated file'
Casey explained that the results of the studies looking into Canada Post are currently before the cabinet.
"This is a big, complicated file. There were over 40 recommendations. There were 22 consultations across the country," he said.
"The government's taking their time to get it right, and I think they should be afforded that."
Adapting to community boxes
Door-to-door delivery is not as much of a concern for Casey's constituents as it was two years ago, he said. During the election campaign it was something he heard about daily, but now, he said it's much less of a concern, and it seems as though people have adapted to living with the community boxes.
"But that doesn't let us off the hook," he added.
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