Trade deal hurts rural Canadians: CPAA

OTTAWA, Oct. 4, 2018 /CNW/ - The US-Mexican-Canadian trade agreement negotiated by the Trudeau government is an attack on public postal service that will be unfair to rural Canadians, said the union representing postmasters and assistants who work in over three thousand rural post offices.

The Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association is incensed by the Liberals carving out Canada Post from the new rules on cross-border duties. Under the USMCA, the duty-free bar gets raised to $40 from $20 on online shopping from the US, but items shipped by Canada Post won't qualify for the exemption.

"This is a subsidy for the big private courier companies who don't deliver to rural Canada," said Brenda McAuley, national president of the CPAA.

"When people are being forced to pay more for Canada Post shipping, those in cities and towns who have the choice will go elsewhere, slowly starving our post office of the revenue it needs. Rural areas that are less profitable to deliver to will be sacrificed."

"The Liberals promised not to privatize Canada Post, but by giving preferential treatment to private couriers, they're cutting our post office out of the profitable parcel business and unfairly penalizing rural Canada in the process," added McAuley.

In many rural areas, Canada Post is the only game in town for the delivery of online goods.

The CPAA plans to bring these concerns to MPs before the agreement is ratified.

"I can't see why the Liberals would do this to Canada Post unless they have privatization in mind," said McAuley.

www.cpaa-acmpa.ca

SOURCE Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association