There is a link in there that isn't getting highlighted. Here it is:

http://news.sympatico.ca/oped/coffee-talk/1000_canada_post_mailboxes_being_pulled_from_the_streets/8b62d676

Personally, I'll probably keep using the post as long as it is around, but wouldn't weep to see it go or at least lose its monopoly (which was pretty much lost when widespread use of email came along anyhow).

Mendalla

i think that there will ALWAYS be a 'canada post', in some form or another.  i doubt that 'snail mail' will ever die... i know that for me nothing brightens my day more than getting a card or letter in the mail from a friend.  there is just something special about that.

will canada post remain the big corporation that it once was?  of course not.  and at this point i think that parcel service and courier is a horse long gone from the barn.  there are a few companies that do that now, and i think that telling them they can't anymore would be a mistake.

canada post should remain under the government, though... it should run as a government service, because there really isn't any way that it will ever be a profitable company.  the us postal service is a prime example of that... i think their debt is in the billions already, and there is real concern as to how it is going to stay afloat.

I suscribe to magazines to keep Canada Post running.  

You know, to be honest, if I ever get a good colour tablet and the magazines I'm interested in were available electronically (many are in various ways), I'd gladly ditch paper subs.

Mendalla

I agree with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers in their vision of the post office. You can read it here:

http://tinyurl.com/7xxeryr

It's the joys of privatisation and competition: lessservice, hogher costs.

I'd like to see post offices, community libraries, tourism offices, etc — municipal, provincial and federal communications-related agencies — sharing a facility (and facility maintenance staff) in most small centres. It could help to ensure efficient services provision within reach and readily accessible to all Canadians.

It's a sensible approach, really, esp. on the issue of profits. As long as it pays its way and we aren't having to spend tax dollars to keep it afloat, I don't think there's any reason for it to be run as a profit-making corporation. It should be a public service first and foremost (was never crazy about the privatization thing in the first place).

There is one line in there, though, that's an freaking joke. They refer to mail as a secure communications service for everyone. It's about as secure as email, perhaps less so, precisely because of having the middle man. Anyone can access, open, and reseal any letter en route. We've had cases of letter carriers doing precisely this here and in other countries. Encrypted email signed with a private key can only be opened by someone with the corresponding public key and can't be resealed (i.e you know definitively that it's been opened). Most email is not secured by public key cryptography, of course, but the fact is that it can be if you know how. So, postal mail is arguably more secure than regular email, but if you know what you're doing, you can make email more secure.

Also on the security front, we routinely have our mail delivered to another address in our neighbourhood, including potentially sensitive information. The other address knows this and redirect the mail back to us, but what if they opened and read it first. And it's fairly clear that it's a CUPW member who's screwing things up. And, yes, we have complained.

So to sell postal mail as "secure" is a bit of a joke. It's secure if, and only if, the letter carrier is honest and competent. Which I know isn't always the case.

Mendalla

I work in a post office and I deal with lots of mail every day. Yes there is a lot of online stuff going on but have you thought of the fact that the dress you bought on line from old navy has to get to you somehow in a timely manner at a reasonable price. Certain documents such as anything to do with probate have to be sent in hard copy.  I have to admit when I see a letter from a lawyer I start to have a panic attack. How are you going to get you new passport ?

exactly.  And how would I get my garden seeds?!  

Purolator mails their invoices.

Things that make you go "Hmmm"