Lowlight #11: Conservative cuts crush Canada Post

COUNTDOWN OF CONSERVATIVE FAILURES FOR 2013

Stephen Harper’s Conservatives had a very bad year. Plagued by an expense scandal and cover-up reaching right to the top of the prime minister’s office, Conservatives have shown they are a tired and out-of-gas government.

We are condensing a year’s worth of lowlights into a countdown of the top 15 examples of Conservative blunders, scandals and ineptitude.

LOWLIGHT #11
CONSERVATIVES CUTS CRUSH CANADA POST

Canada Post has announced a new business plan – eliminating home delivery, cutting 8,000 jobs and raising the cost of stamps by over 30%.

When questioned, Conservative House Leader Peter Van Loan explained, “I’d say the important thing for Canadians is that we continue to have postal service.”

The minister failed to mention that the Conservative-approved plan didn’t cut from the $10 million a year payroll for the company’s 23 president and vice-presidents. Instead, these executives worked with the Conservatives to cut services Canadians rely on.

No other options were proposed, like the kind of approach we have seen in places like New Zealand for example, where services were expanded, not cut, as part of their postal reforms.

These radical cuts were signed off by the Conservatives without proper consultation with those affected – particularly seniors and people living with disabilities.

Conservative appointed Canada Post CEO Deepak Chopra heartlessly tried to justify the elimination of home delivery saying: “The citizens and the seniors I spoke to, they want to be active. They want to be living fuller lives.”

Canadians deserve a government that looks for creative solutions to problems. Instead they got a Conservative government that refuses to consult and time and again claims the only solution is ideologically driven cuts to services Canadians rely on.

Canadians deserve better.

While other leaders have been missing in action, Tom Mulcair has been showing up to work on behalf of Canadians – holding Stephen Harper accountable and putting forward practical solutions to help families make ends meet.