Just give Canada Post to private enterprise

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You say it’s time for the government to admit that it should just get out of the mail business altogether. You fume that if it can’t deliver the mail at least a couple of days a week, it is a useless money wasting anachronism. Yes, they could turn over what’s left of the business to private enterprise. If Revenue Canada needs to send a dunning notice, they could hire a for-profit courier service. Ah but did you know that Canada Post owns the right to deliver mail? That’s right. It’s illegal for FedEx or anyone else to deliver a letter to you. No no. Parcels okay, but not mail. Nor will Canada post permit honest local business people to deliver mail for whatever money they can make at it. That’s owned by Canada Post. Like a jealous boyfriend they say that if they can’t have the mail, no one else is going to have it. Look, just play ball with Canada Post and find your way to a lovely ice-covered community mailbox located God-knows-where. What’s wrong with that?

Door-to-door delivery to end within 5 years

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Canada Post is phasing out door-to-door delivery of regular mail to urban residents and increasing the cost of stamps in a major move to try to reduce significant, regular losses. The Crown corporation announced its plans in a news release today (Wednesday, December 11, 2013) saying urban home delivery will be phased out over the next five years.  It will surprise some that only one-third of all homes continue to receive door-to-door delivery. Rural and condominium-like buildings already have community mailboxes. It seems likely however that condo and apartment dwellers will also find themselves trekking to a large community mail centres along with homeowners, The decision comes with many unanswered questions. Although the community boxes are said to be secure and individualized to each user, there is no information as to how convenient they may be. Residents of lower South Bayview will know how inaccessible is the postal office serving Moore Park and north Rosedale. Fetching undelivered registered mail requires a fight through traffic to Yonge and St. Clair, paid parking and long walks the basement outlet. And how will the elderly cope? Canada Post said it is also planning to scale down its labour force by between 6,000 and 8,000 people, though it maintains it can do so through attrition as about 15,000 employees are scheduled to retire in the coming years.  Gazette  Canada Post news release  Urban dwellers baffled by community boxes.

Here comes the ho-ho-ho snow South Bayview

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Fun on Inglewood

Here it comes South Bayview. There will be snow and lots of it this weekend and these parading Santas on Inglewood Drive seem ready for it. At least five neighbors along the street decided to get the big blow-up St. Nicks from Canadian Tire. More fun than snow for sure. The Weather Channel says as much as 10 cm on Saturday, but others say maybe 15 cm. We have had wonderful weather so far this season, whatever you may think to the contrary. The normal daytime high for Toronto in December is 2 C. The normal low is -5 C. Temperatures across southern Ontario over the next few days will continue to be below average with highs near -6 C until Friday. And that’s when things start to get snowy. If you’re a skier or enjoy the snowy outdoors, however, you’ll enjoy what’s coming. North of the GTA, in cottage country, snow squalls have persisted since the weekend. Areas like Bracebridge could see more than 40 cm of accumulation by Thursday. Further south, in Toronto, the snow will start on Friday.

Northlea’s Jake named “favourite crossing guard”

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Jake Apacible

Jake Apacible has been chosen one of Canada’s most popular crossing guards in a national contest which ended in November. Mr Apacible is the long-standing and much-loved guide at  Northlea Elementary and Middle School at 305 Rumsey Road. The crossing guard appeared today on CP24 with two pupils from Northlea. He is said to be a consistently cheerful and caring guard who travels from his home in Markham every day on time and without fail. Jake receives $500 for his win. The contest is run by FedEx Express Canada and Parachute to help recognize the contributions of special crossing guards in Canada. Students, teachers and parents across the country are invited to nominate their favourite guards during “Canada’s Favourite Crossing Guard Contest”. The contest winner’s school also wins $500. The news was announced on the school’s website by Sarah Dawson and Wilmar Kortleever, representatives of the Northlea School Council and Northlea Home and School Association:  “When informed yesterday about the designation, Jake expressed honour and delight. Modest as ever, he immediately shared his accomplishment with family, his coordinator at the Toronto Police Service, and indeed the entire school: ‘I really feel that I am a part of the Northlea community’, said Jake, who for 10+ years has traveled all the way from (Markham) every day to assist our children.” Typically, three winners are named but this year’s judging panel was so impressed with their top four choices that four have been named. The other winners are in Winnipeg, St John’s, Newfoundland and Whitehorse, Yukon.

OPG fires three top executives for overspending

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The rich and creamy gravy train at the government power authority ran smack off the tracks today when three top executives were fired from the their cushy positions. The Ontario Power Generation was directed by the Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli to dismiss two vice presidents, internal audit and strategic initiatives, and the corporation’s chief financial officer. The action came on the same day that the provincial auditor, Bonnie Lysyk, released a report that condemned the OPG for a system of remuneration that is five times richer than the rest of the public sericie in Ontario. Compensation packages at OPG are “significantly more generous” than for comparable positions in the civil service, and have a financial impact on the cost of electricity.  Lysyk concluded citizens pay much more than they should for electricity because 62 percent of OPG staff make more than $100,000. Ms. Lysyk scores the OPG as a top-heavy bureaucracy of executives one of whom is said to have billed $392,000 in moving expenses. Talk about the careless use of other Peoples Money. The top five OPG executives would be eligible for annual pensions of up to $760,000 when they retire. Lysyk also found that OPG is rife with nepotism. The auditor discovered about 12 per cent of OPG employees — or 1,400 staffers — reside at 700 addresses “indicating that they were most likely family members.”  

Postal deadlines looming for Christmas delivery

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The deadline for sending parcels within Canada by Regular Parcel Post the is end of tomorrow (Wednesday, December 11. 2013).  Other mailing deadlines to get presents in the mail in time for Christmas are listed here.

Holiday cards:
Dec. 19 for local delivery
Dec. 18 for delivery in the same province
Dec. 17 for delivery to another province
Holiday cards to the U.S.:
Dec. 13 for delivery to any U.S. state
Holiday packages within Canada:
Dec. 23 with Priority shipping
Dec. 20 with Xpresspost shipping
Dec. 11 with regular parcel shipping
Holiday packages to the U.S.
Dec. 20 with Priority shipping
Dec. 17 with Xpresspost shipping
Dec. 10 with regular parcel shipping

Rob Ford slurs reporter but offers no proof

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Rob Ford has intimated that a Toronto Star reporter is a pedophile without offering any proof that this might be true. He did so in the interview with Conrad Black which played yesterday on Vision TV. The interview is being widely condemned for this, and for Mr,.Black’s servile conduct. The interview, even without Mr Ford’s astonishing accusation against the reporter, is evidence of the judgement  made here some days ago about the doubtful value of providing a platform to this disgraced man.  It must surely be an embarrassment for Mr Black, a notoriously proud man who likes to trade on his intellect, and for Vision TV, to have been associated with such a worthless event. Global  Mostly Media 

Crombie warns of “a very large” island airport

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Former Mayor David Crombie has told a meeting of No Jets TO supporters Monday night that there should be no doubt about the ultimate outcome if Porter Airlines is allowed to operate jets out of Billy Bishop Airport on Toronto Island. Mr. Crombie said that it was inevitable that many other airlines like Air Canada and West Jet would reasonably expect to use the airport too and that what any expansion represented was the creation of a very large airport. Other speakers included former mayor David Miller. The meeting was held at the OISE auditorium on Bloor Street.