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The headline in the National Post (May 14, 2024) screamed: “Canada Post is Bleeding Money.” It went on to say: “Canada Post is at a tipping point. With letters declining, package delivery going to competitors and the Crown corporation losing $3-billion over the last six years, something will soon have to change about how Canadians get their mail. In 2006, Canada Post delivered seven letters per week to the average address. It now delivers two.” The costs of stamps has just gone up AGAIN! Our lucky U.S. cousins have very inexpensive “book rate” for use in the U.S. Canada used to, but not for the past decade or so. As those of you who buy books from us know, the cost of shipping is horrendous. A $30 book may cost $30+ to mail to British Columbia. C-FAR sends postpaid envelopes — or “rates” –with our fundraisers as a bonus to our supporters. The service costs us almost $700 a year, plus a fee for each envelope of over $2.00. Occasionally, we may slip behind in our payments and are sent a graceless, unsigned threatening letter. [Bureaucrats are such gutless wonders.] I have several times complained about these unsigned threatening letters. A sheepish employee at HQ in Ottawa told me they were generated by a computer! Oh, well, I’m relieved. I’m not being threatened by a real person. Blame the computer! Typical Ottawa – no one’s responsible.

In March, I sent an envelope with a $300 payment to Post Office H.Q. in Ottawa, as I had done many times before. It was returned with heavy magic marker blotting out the postal code and a yellow sticker advising “return to sender.” Annoyed, I typed out a new envelope and popped the payment in and sent it off to Ottawa. It came back similarly defaced. I wondered was there some saboteur in the sorting room returning mail addressed to his/her/its/their/zrh boss? I called Post Office H.Q. A message advised me that “because of unusual volume of calls, there would be a wait time.” That’s a situation, not an excuse. Competent managers would hire or assign more people to answers calls and not keep Canada Post’s dwindling group of paying customers waiting. Just before an employee deigned to pick up the phone, a message advised me: “Abusive, aggressive, racist or offensive language or behaviour will not be tolerated.” Increasingly government bodies, medical institutions and even some businesses like Enbridge insult customers with this demeaning warning. Would you invite guests to your house and post a sign warning them to use the toilet and not defecate on the floor? – Paul Fromm