Good-bye Andrew Coyne

National Post columnist Andrew Coyne has been removed from my 'anyone who's anyone reads' list for this ill-conceived attack on Canada Post. While I certainly can't defend the corporation for its anti-union activity over the years, I much prefer a crown corporation to a privately owned company. Coyne was first put on my reader's list for his progressive views on proportional representation.

The following is CUPW President Deborah Bourque's reply to Coyne's attack on Canada Post.

"Andrew Coyne’s column (“Ignorance is Canada Post’s bliss” from May 23, 2007) is merely a “one size fits all” analysis backed up with fuzzy reasoning.

Surely if Holland’s postal service has substantially liberalized, he contends, so should Canada Post. Newsflash: Holland’s landmass fits into Canada 240 times and is one of the flattest countries on the planet.

Could it be the Canada Post Act, passed unanimously by the House of Commons, gave people a post office suited to the demands of a large country with a low population density? No, says Coyne. The post office monopoly was broken in Sweden, Germany and New Zealand and should be in Canada.

Before jumping on the deregulation bandwagon, consider Sweden, which has had a competitive mail service since the 1990s. Private companies deliver mail, mostly in the urban areas, allowing large businesses in urban areas to enjoy lower postage fees. However, postage fees for small business and individual citizens have gone up dramatically, in rural areas and urban areas.

In fact, these postal services Coyne is so fond of all have one thing in common: their postage fees are higher than those of Canada Post, despite these countries’ smaller sizes and higher population densities. The only exception is New Zealand Post where regulatory restrictions prevented increasing postal rates. But it’s easier for New Zealand Post to keep fees low - they happen to own the country’s largest bank.

Luckily, not owning a bank has not stopped Canada Post from offering the second lowest basic postage fees in the G8, turning a profit for 12 straight years and paying an $80 million dividend to the government last year alone.

Ignorance is indeed bliss."