Vote on rural delivery expected today
Temelkovski's motion progresses
By Bill Rea

Oak Ridges - Markham MP Lui Temelkovski has found plenty of support in the House of Commons for his efforts to get rural mail delivery protected.

His private member's motion, calling on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities Minister Lawrence Cannon to use his power to direct Canada Post to maintain the traditional delivery practices in rural areas, while protecting public safety for rural residents who have to collect their mail some distance from their homes, was debated again for about an hour Monday, and a vote is expected in the House sometime late today (Wednesday). Temelkovski said he was confident it will pass, as it drew support for all parties in the House Monday.

Curtailing rural deliveries became a major issue for many people living in King, especially those in RRs of Newmarket, such as in the Ansnorveldt and Kettleby areas. Certain residents abruptly had their private delivery cut off earlier this year, with mail being left in group mail boxes. This change was the result of a decision by Human Resources Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) that found safety concerns for employees deliver- ing rural mail from the Newmarket postal station. There have been similar situations reported in other parts of the country.

Debate on the motion started in June, and Temelkovski was pleased with the way the second round of discussion went Monday.

"We had a good wrapup," he commented, although he was a little concerned that the governing Conservatives tried to pin responsibility on the former Liberal government, "which is not true. This happened clearly after the fact."

He also said routes continue to close all over the country, and in his riding. He got a call last week that another one had just been closed in Unionville.

Temelkovski stated he's had meetings with officials of Canada Post, as well as with representatives of the Canadian Union of Postal Employees. "There are some games being played between the two," he observed.

What's needed is a broadbased policy, and Temelkovski agreed the Crown corporation might be put to some expense to deal with the issue. But he commented in the House Monday that Canada Post has shown a profit in each of the last 11 years, adding it should be putting its human and financial resources to work on this matter.

He told the house the first three routes to be cut back in the country were in his riding. "Now almost all my riding is affected," he said.

Peter Van Loan wasn't ready for the government to take the blame. He said it was the Liberals who made all the rural carriers Canada Post employees, thus putting them into the union. He added that as independent contractors, there had never been complaints of safety issues.

Van Loan said there aren't easy solutions to this. Canada Post is at arm's length from the government, but he did say Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said he wants rural deliveries maintained. "We want Canada Post to do its job," Van loan stated.

Although he too was confident the motion will pass, Van Loan wasn't sure what action will follow or what steps the government will take.

"The genie is out of the bottle," he remarked. "Having put them into the union, it's virtually impossible to take them back out and return them to contract workers."

"How is it possible that we should have this debate here when Canada Post is responsible for providing adequate mail service across the country?" wondered Riviere-du-Loup - Montmagny Bloc Quebecois MP Paul Crete.

"Canada Post must be carefully monitored in its operations," he added. "We have to make sure it is not trying to privatize its work by the back door."

"There has to be an alternative," Crete said. "There has to be a way to provide adequate postal service to rural people."

"Just because there's a safety issue doesn't mean that we should end the service," observed NDP MP Catherine Bell from Vancouver Island North. "It means we should make it better and I think there are a lot of ways that we can work with these workers to improve the service."

"As I hope other members can appreciate, rural mail delivery, as a means of communication, is still very necessary in rural Canada," commented conservative MP Cheryl Gallant from Renfrew - Nipissing - Pembroke, adding the government is "firmly committed" to maintaining delivery at private mail boxes.

She also took a shot at the former government for causing the trouble.

"This issue of discontinuing rural mail delivery is not one that suddenly developed after our new Conservative government took office," she said. "I remind my colleagues, and the member from Oak Ridges - Markham who has put forth this motion, that this problem is one of the many problems that our new government has been asked to solve now that we're the government of Canada."