Canada Post struggles to deliver in digital age

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The day Deepak Chopra made his inaugural address as head of Canada Post, the staff of the Crown corporation was scrambling to restore mail delivery in Scarborough. For two days — residents say it was a week — there was no service to a large chunk of the district.

Something else happened too. The price of a postage stamp quietly went up to 59 cents

All three pieces are part of the same story.

Chopra, former regional president of Pitney Bowes, officially takes command this week. For the last two weeks, he’s been telling Canadians he considers the embattled post office “a national treasure” which he looks forward to running.

If so, it’s a rapidly shrinking treasure. Mail volumes are dropping. Operating costs are rising. Customers are fleeing. Many analysts believe the government-owned behemoth is doomed. In addition to all that, Canada Post’s collective agreement with its main union, the traditionally militant Canadian Union of Postal Workers, expires on the eve of Chopra’s arrival.

“It’s fair to ask, if Canada Post is facing such insurmountable challenges, why do I want to join the company?” he acknowledged as he introduced himself to employees at its head office in Ottawa. He rhymed off the reasons: “We are the only organization that touches every Canadian address every business day,” he reminded them. The government understands the need to invest in Canada Post, he pointed out; it has authorized management to spend $2 billion modernizing its sorting equipment and aging plants. And he is confident he can find new revenue sources.

Down at ground level in Scarborough, no one had time for such lofty sentiments.

A harassed Canada Post employee was explaining to angry callers that the depot was short-staffed. There might be delivery tomorrow, she told one frustrated office manager, “but don’t hold your breath.” The local MP, Michelle Simson, was trying to get answers in Ottawa. “There has been no other issue, no other department or Crown corporation since I was elected in 2008 that has prompted this number of phone calls, day in and day out.”

According to Canada Post spokesman Eugene Knapik, the station was hit with “an unusual number of unplanned absences” (translation: a flu outbreak) during a period of internal restructuring.

While true, it wasn’t the whole truth. Doug Jones, Canada Post’s senior vice-president of operations, filled in the rest.

What happened in Scarborough in mid-January, he said, was a manifestation of the upheaval going on at postal stations across the country.

Last fall, Canada Post started rolling out its plan to make over the 30-year-old Crown corporation, which was a government department for 114 years.

One of its first steps was to redeploy its workforce. The Internet had lightened mail carriers’ bags so much that many carriers could finish their routes in less than six hours. In October, Canada Post assigned them longer routes that would take a full day to complete. This meant more walking and heavier loads.

Next, it eliminated most of the relief workers at each branch. This meant a flu attack, a truck breakdown or a blizzard could leave a station without enough staff to deliver the mail. “We don’t have the resources to staff everything, all the time,” Jones said.

Bigger changes lie ahead. Mail carriers will be asked to deliver parcels, empty letter boxes and pick up loads from postal outlets in their district.

Meanwhile, postal charges will continue to rise. Ottawa has authorized a 20 per cent rate by 2014.

The union is restive. Customers don’t like paying more for less reliable service.

Chopra has five years to turn the lumbering Crown corporation around. The government is gambling he can do it. Canadians — at least those who still write letters, send birthday gifts and put cheques in the mail — hope he has a few miracles in his pocket.