I mailed some Christmas cards yesterday. There
were only five of them (sister, brother daughter, son and one close friend out west).
I can remember my parents spending their evenings doing their Christmas cards-
going through the list making sure that they had not forgotten anyone who had
sent them a card, adding notes to the people who they were close to or had not seen for awhile. The cards were away of staying in touch with people - some of whom my parents had not seen in years. And of
course I remember getting all of the cards in the mail and how exciting it was when I got a card addressed to me. My
parents didn’t have a lot of money but they sold Regal Cards and I suspect that
their sales paid for the ones they mailed out. I don’t want to exaggerate but I
am sure that they mailed out well over a hundred, perhaps even two hundred Christmas
cards every year
This year I mailed five. The stamps were
left over from last year and the cards were free. Some charitable organization had
sent me 8-9 cards along with a pen, some Christmas seals and some return
address labels. There were nice cards with nice envelopes. They expected me to
send them some money to support their worthwhile cause. I didn’t ask for the cards
and I didn’t send them any money. In fact I never donate money to charities that
send me stuff on the hope that I will send them money. I felt a bit guilty
about using their cards without donating some money but I would have felt worse
if I just thrown the cards away. I will donate money to another charity while
thinking about them.
It may be the last year that I send Christmas
cards. If Canada Post goes through with their plans to both increase the cost
of stamps and to do away with house delivery, it will be too expensive to mail
stuff out and everyone that I send a card to will have to walk somewhere to get
their mail. I don’t think any of them care enough.
The failure of Canada Post to both make
money and to provide a needed service is a classic example of Neo-liberalism. First
one deregulates and de-funds a service that has traditionally been seen as a
public service; when that service can no longer function and falls apart the
government says “see… it wasn’t a very good service anyway and the private
sector can do it better”.
It is interesting to note that the Conservatives,
when they stop running from shame, will probably say that Canada Post is run as
separate entity from the government and that its board is responsible for the
necessary business decisions it makes. In the past the government has argued
that a national postal service is a necessary service (which is why the government legislated workers back to
work in 2011). Today I guess it is not a necessary service. And that saddens me.
Canada is a complicated country for numerous reason but the over riding issue that defines virtual all of its problems is its size. Politicians in the past have recognized that for the country to remain strong it needs to have national institutions that make it easy for Canadians to feel connected to each other. The national railroad, the CBC and Canada Post are three such institutions that have allowed us to stay in touch. There is no more national railroad, the CBC continues to be gutted every budget and now the postal service is on the way out.
Do you ever get the feeling that someone would prefer if we didn't stay connected?
Canada is a complicated country for numerous reason but the over riding issue that defines virtual all of its problems is its size. Politicians in the past have recognized that for the country to remain strong it needs to have national institutions that make it easy for Canadians to feel connected to each other. The national railroad, the CBC and Canada Post are three such institutions that have allowed us to stay in touch. There is no more national railroad, the CBC continues to be gutted every budget and now the postal service is on the way out.
Do you ever get the feeling that someone would prefer if we didn't stay connected?
