Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre addresses media following his use of a jackhammer to destroy a concrete foundation, which was laid for an unauthorized community mailbox at the entrance to Anse-a-l'Orme Nature Park, in Montreal, on Thursday, August 13, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter RayPeter Ray/The Canadian Press
Canadian mayors are not usually in the habit of taking part in assaults on concrete slabs with a jackhammer. Mayor Denis Coderre of Montreal is a notable exception.
Last Thursday, he made a vivid rhetorical point against Canada Post Corp., protesting against the installation of "community mailboxes," in a public park in the borough of Pierrefonds. No prosecution for this civil disobedience appears to be pending.
Canada Post benefits from a set of federal regulations in its favour, called the Mail Receptacles Regulation, allowing it to plunk down these mailboxes on any public property that is federal, provincial or municipal land – parks, sidewalks, road allowances (perhaps right in front of your house) and so on.
Like Mr. Coderre, the city government of Hamilton has also been upset by these high-handed goings-on. It sued Canada Post to stop it installing the new super boxes without consulting the municipality, but an Ontario superior court judge, Alan Whitten, ruled against the city in June. Hamilton has launched an appeal.
It's true that, in cases of conflict, a federal law generally prevails over provincial and municipal laws. Even so, the result is unjust in a broader sense. Justice Whitten did not confine himself to strict, technical federal paramountcy. He wrote at length about Canada Post's difficulties of making money in an age when people and companies have multiple ways of sending each other messages.
But the judge barely mentioned the fact that Canada Post is a monopoly. It has the exclusive right to carry all letters weighing less than 500 grams – with the exception of courier deliveries. A private company sending urgent missives must by law charge at least three times Canada Post's rate.
And that is what grates: The law long ago gave Canada Post a monopoly on door-to-door mail delivery, but Canada Post's current business plan is to stop offering door-to-door mail delivery – while retaining all the legal benefits of the monopoly, such as the right to install its facilites on public lands.
It would be better if Canada Post were stripped of its monopoly and forced to rent retail space or public land for the euphemistically named "community" mailboxes, just like any other business.