Finance committee  Pay equity is such a simple issue that people should be able to wrap their heads around it. If we do the same work, we should get the same pay, and we shouldn't have discriminatory practices based on gender. They continue today and they need to be addressed. That's an issue of fairness.

Finance committee  Absolutely. I think pharmacare is the issue of the day. It can make a real difference. Canada is the only nation that has a national medicare program that doesn't include a pharmacare program, and we're losing out as Canadians by not having that. Filling in the gaps or providing only for those without isn't a fair system.

Finance committee  Thank you for the opportunity to present. The Manitoba Federation of Labour, or MFL, is Manitoba's central labour body, chartered by the Canadian Labour Congress. It represents the interests of more than 100,000 unionized working people from every sector and every region of the province.

Government Operations committee  I'll jump in on that first. I think we need to look at postal banking, where we implement it, as Canada-wide. There may be some branches that don't perform very well. There may be losses in the short term or in some places even in the long term. On aggregate, though, as a whole, postal banking has huge potential to be making profits that can be reinvested in the public good and can subsidize those poor performers.

Government Operations committee  As Canadians, we own an incredible asset in Canada Post. There are huge opportunities to do things differently and better, become more than self-sustaining, and support governments in other ways. If we need to look at doing things differently, it's an investment, not a subsidy. I think the return on it will be tremendous.

Government Operations committee  When we have a public service model like this that can have good jobs for Canadians and reinvest profits back for the public good, why would we devolve that to the private sector? I know there are accusations that when we move into a private sector domain, we're doing something that might be up for some debate and challenge.

Government Operations committee  Yes, in the net distribution of wealth, the government's better served to have a public entity that's reusing those profits for the public good and providing for good jobs. When those comparisons are made, it's always that way.

Government Operations committee  Sure. It wouldn't be 50,000 workers who would need that training. Many of the Canada Post employees are door-to-door delivery people and out on the street. You'd need to train the people who are in the postal offices themselves, and that would be an investment that invests in the training and skill set of our Canadian workforce, which I think is money well spent.

Government Operations committee  I think that particularly in urban centres, people who have had door-to-door delivery services should continue to have it. There have been community mailboxes in some of the farther rural areas, but in most places people rely on door-to-door delivery. Stripping that away from them and eliminating that is causing a real problem and concern, and it's something that needs to be restored and reinvested in.

Government Operations committee  I think the individuals living in the area absolutely need to be consulted and I think as a matter of fairness it should be there for people. When we say it's being accepted in new developments, I think it's because they aren't being given much of a choice there, but they should be given that choice and be given that opportunity to get their door-to-door service.

Government Operations committee  Absolutely, it's a service for Canadians, and there are opportunities to grow those services.

Government Operations committee  It should be a sustainable system, and it can be, and profits should be reinvested back in the community. Government is in a position to do so, to reinvest in the infrastructure of the organization itself, and any excess can go to help provide other public services for people.

Government Operations committee  Thank you. I'm Kevin Rebeck, and on behalf of the Manitoba Federation of Labour, Manitoba's central labour body representing over 100,000 unionized workers here in Manitoba, I'm pleased to offer the following remarks to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates in relation to the study on Canada Post.

Transport committee  Sure. Recommendations would include having some guaranteed jobs and work that would be in our region. I stand with our local government that we want to see a net gain in our province. There's absolutely room for us to grow in centres of excellence, but it shouldn't be at the sacrifice of the maintenance and service work that needs to be done as well.

Transport committee  The purpose of the changes being made is to take out reference to maintaining maintenance and service in our region, and we take offence to that being removed. If I were to make an amendment, I would remove the reference that takes us out and protect those jobs in our province.