You raise a good point that Canada Post doesn't pay a true market cost for the real estate its CMBs sit on. But this is the nature of a quasi-public monopoly. But that's the price we pay for you to be able to send a letter from anywhere, to anywhere.
You raise another good point that the cost of home delivery is inflated by the pay-by-distance union rules. But this issue is close to intractable. Given the political reality of this situation, do you think postal workers will give up these rules without a long, disruptive strike? Do you think the government wants to get within 10 miles of another postal strike?
That's just a matter of resolution. Canada Post never did deliver to say, the inbox on your desk, you always had to go to the mailbox to pick up your mail.
What the GP means is that Canada Post serves all areas of the country. If you try to send a package to a rural area via UPS, they'll charge you courier rates and then just mail it for you.
One of the other big factors that hasn't been touched upon here is the cost of boxes vs the true cost of carriers. As we know, one of the largest cost's for these employees is the benefits and pension. So without numbers, just guessing, I would say that it would take a lot of boxes to cover the cost of salaries, benefits and pension for 8000 federal staff.
You raise another good point that the cost of home delivery is inflated by the pay-by-distance union rules. But this issue is close to intractable. Given the political reality of this situation, do you think postal workers will give up these rules without a long, disruptive strike? Do you think the government wants to get within 10 miles of another postal strike?