Letter to Stephen Harper - April 24, 2006

PRIORITY COURIER

April 24, 2006

Prime Minister Stephen Harper
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

Dear Mr. Harper:

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) would like to know whether your party intends to live up to its promise to review the decision to close the mail processing plant in Quebec City. Attached please find our correspondence on this matter.

To date, CUPW has not been able to get a meeting with Lawrence Cannon, the Minister Responsible for Canada Post, or obtain any information on the government's position on the plant closure. A letter from Minister Cannon's office dated April 12, 2006 says that "due to his busy schedule, he will be unable to meet...in the foreseeable future."

As well, national representatives of CUPW have not been able to get a meeting with Josée Verner, the member of Parliament who has the Quebec City plant in her riding. However, CUPW representatives in Quebec City did manage to meet with Verner on March 31, 2006. At this meeting, Minister Verner indicated that Minister Cannon is responsible for Canada Post issues.

CUPW would like to request your help in getting a clear response to our inquiries about your party’s intentions. In September of 2005, Josée Verner, then Chair of the Quebec Caucus for the Conservative Party of Canada, asked Canada Post to reconsider its decision to close the Quebec City plant. In November of 2005, Brian Pallister, then post office critic for the Conservative Party, said “a Conservative Party government would review Canada Post's decision to close the Quebec City sorting centre.” He said “It is unthinkable to us that the Montreal centre alone can provide consistent service quality across the province. The people of Eastern Quebec deserve quality postal service, equivalent to that provided in the rest of the province.” Pallister even said, "The Conservative Party therefore opposes this decision" and that the party intended to " carry on the work in order to meet the needs of Quebecers and deliver quality public service."

I am writing one last time to urge the Conservative Party to live up to the spirit and letter of its commitment to meet the needs of Quebecers by opposing and reviewing this decision.

If we do not receive a clear indication that you intend to conduct, in conjunction with the public and postal workers, a full and thorough review of the decision to close the Quebec City plant, my union will take this as a very clear sign that the Conservative Party will not be reviewing the decision to close the plant.

I know that you, Minister Cannon and Minister Verner have been very busy dealing with your new responsibilities and that it is very difficult to do justice to a variety of important issues all at once. Unfortunately, the Quebec City plant is in the midst of being closed and it is, therefore, essential that we meet to discuss your party's promise to review the plant closing before it is too late. CUPW is available to meet at any time with representatives from your party with decision-making power in connection with a review of the plant closure. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours truly,

Deborah Bourque
National President

Encl.

c.c.: National Executive Board
Regional Education and Organization Officers
National Union Representatives
CUPW Specialists
Presidents, CUPW Locals
All Members of Parliament
Gilles Duceppe, Leader, Bloc Quebecois
Mario Laframboise, MP
Jack Layton, Leader, New Democratic Party
Paul Dewar, MP
Bill Graham, Interim Leader, Liberal Party
Belinda Stronach, MP
Lawrence Cannon, Minister, Transport, Infrastructure and Communities
Josée Verner, Minister, International Cooperation & Minister, La Francophonie and Official Languages
Leslie Schous, President, Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association
Richard Des Lauriers, President, Union of Postal Communications Employees, Public Service Alliance of Canada