December 5th, 2024
Honourable Dominic LeBlanc
Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs
Member of Parliament for Beauséjour
House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6
Via electronic mail: dominic.leblanc@parl.gc.ca
Honourable LeBlanc,
On behalf of the Cap-Acadie Chamber of Commerce, we are writing to urge you to immediately intervene and do everything necessary to end the strike that has now shut down operations at Canada Post for more than two weeks.
Last year, Canada Post delivered almost six and a half billion pieces of mail, parcels, and messages, to more than 17 million addresses across the country, and as a result, this work stoppage has an impact on millions of Canadians and businesses who rely on the postal service every day.
This is yet another blow to our supply chains, with a disproportionate impact on entrepreneurs and small businesses engaged in e-commerce, many of whom are counting on doing a considerable amount of business during the holiday season.
Our Chamber of Commerce represents nearly 200 members from a wide variety of sectors. Among them, non-profit organizations such as CHU Dumont Foundation had to completely rethink their fundraising strategy for the annual Tree of Hope campaign, being unable to use direct mail as planned. Similarly, Radio Beauséjour had to suspend the mailing of calendars to its members for its fundraising campaign based on the sale of lottery calendars. In addition, dozens of companies, usually loyal to Canada Post for the shipment of their products, are now having to turn to other suppliers who, faced with the high demand caused by the Canada Post strike, have increased their rates.
Our businesses and non-profits can’t sustain their operations if costs continue to rise and the supply chain continues to be undermined.
We are respectfully asking that you put the families and businesses in our community first by intervening to get this dispute resolved, as we cannot continue to pay the price of inaction.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.
Sincerely,
— Anthony Azard
Chief Executive Officer
Cap-Acadie Chamber of Commerce
— Natalie Cormier
Chair of the Board of Directors
Cap-Acadie Chamber of Commerce
