NDP leader calls on Canada Post to drop fuel surcharge over holiday rush period
NDP leader calls on Canada Post to drop fuel surcharge over holiday rush period
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh wants Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step in to see Canada Post scrap its fuel surcharge on deliveries over the upcoming holiday rush period.
To help cover rising costs, Canada Post announced in September it would be adjusting its longstanding fuel surcharge on shipping rates on a weekly basis, depending on the price of diesel.
As of Nov. 28, Canada Post is currently charging an 39.5 per cent surcharge for domestic services, after diesel reached nearly $2.30 a litre earlier this month.
Singh told reporters Tuesday the prime minister should consider the cost of living increases for Canadians, and questioned whether the federal government approved the decision for Canada Post to impose a nearly-40 per cent surcharge.
“It's going to be more expensive for families to send packages or to deliver to their loved ones over the holiday season,” Singh said. “Serious questions are raised about whether the Liberal government and the prime minister looked at the impact that this increased surcharge would have on Canadians and considered ways to mitigate that.”
Singh called the surcharge “gouging,” while seeming to suggest the federal government direct the Crown Corporation to scrap the policy over the busy holiday period.
Canada Post spokesperson Valérie Chartrand wrote in an email to CTVNews.ca the fuel surcharge is based on the average price of diesel across Canada as measured by an independent company, and Canada Post understands “the impact this can have on customers.”
“Due to the fluctuation of fuel prices and their significant impact on operational costs, fuel surcharges are applied year-round as a standard industry practice for parcel shippers,” Chartrand wrote. “As Canada Post manages the largest transportation network in Canada, with thousands of vehicles in our fleet, this has been part of our standard practice for nearly 20 years.”
Public Services and Procurement Minister Helena Jaczek addressed the policy during Question Period Tuesday, saying, “Canada Post Corporation operates at arm's length from the government.
“But we do have regular conversations with Canada Post in terms of their initiatives, we monitor this very closely. I'm in communication with that board, and I commit … to help continue that type of conversation.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says federal health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos was right in saying there is 'still lots of work to do' before reaching a deal with the provinces for increased health-care funding, but that he's 'confident' that the two levels of government will get there.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sat down with CTV National News Chief News Anchor and Senior Editor Omar Sachedina for a year-end interview to reflect on the political shifts experienced in 2022, and to contemplate the challenges ahead in 2023. Here is a full transcript of the interview.
After six weeks, more than 70 witnesses, and the submission of more than 7,000 documents into evidence, the public hearing portion of the Public Order Emergency Commission wrapped up on Friday.
The federal government's fall economic update makes it clear that while the deficit is declining, the risk that Canada enters into a recession is rising.
Members of Parliament—many dressed in black—returned to Ottawa on Thursday to take part in a 'special session' commemorating Queen Elizabeth II and marking the accession to the throne of King Charles III. The House of Commons held this historic opportunity to allow MPs to pay tribute ahead of Monday's national commemorations.
Like Jacinda Ardern, Justin Trudeau’s early handling of the pandemic was a reassuring communications exercise where harsh isolation measures went down easier with a hefty helping of government support, Don Martin writes in an exclusive opinion column for CTVNews.ca. 'But like the New Zealand Prime Minister, the Canadian PM's best days are arguably behind him. '
The Standing Committee on Transport gathered Thursday with MPs demanding an explanation for how that highly unusual Canadian winter combination of heavy snow and cold temperatures which delayed or cancelled thousands of post-pandemic reunions. What they got was a gold-medal finger-pointing performance, writes Don Martin in an exclusive opinion column for CTVNews.ca.
From a more coherent public health and carbon tax position, to cutting the 'Freedom Convoy' connection and smiling more, Pierre Poilievre has seven New Year's resolutions to woo the voters in 2023, writes Don Martin in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
Hope was in short supply just ten weeks ago on this 10-kilometre spit of sand at the end of the migration route for tens of thousands of Canadian snowbirds, Don Martin writes in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca from Florida's Fort Myers Beach. But there are signs, he says, things may return to normal much faster than anyone expected.
The federal Liberal government is joining the Opposition Conservatives in no longer allowing its members of Parliament to expense taxpayers for home internet services.
On Feb. 27, 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country needed fighters, and foreigners were welcome to join the front line in the defence against Russian aggression. Some Canadians were among the first to answer the call.
Canada is sending four combat-ready battle tanks to Ukraine and will be deploying 'a number' of Canadian Armed Forces members to train Ukrainian soldiers on how to operate them.
Retailers and tech companies use many tools to mine consumers for data they can share with third parties, but there are steps consumers can take to protect and safeguard their personal information.
Following the deaths of more than 300 children from contaminated cough syrups in several countries, Health Canada says it's been more than a decade since similar cases were identified here.
Rent prices in Canada grew at a record pace last year as the country saw the lowest vacancy rate since 2001, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said.
The independent body that oversees the safety of technical systems and equipment in British Columbia has found a deadly ammonia leak near Kamloops last May was a tragedy that took years to unfold.
Ottawa police and Bylaw Services are telling residents and visitors they will be taking a zero-tolerance approach to parking, noise and fireworks violations downtown this weekend, on the one-year anniversary of the 'Freedom Convoy' demonstration.
Ottawa police and Bylaw Services are telling residents and visitors they will be taking a zero-tolerance approach to parking, noise and fireworks violations downtown this weekend, on the one-year anniversary of the 'Freedom Convoy' demonstration.
A commemoration planned for Sunday to mark the sixth anniversary of the Quebec City mosque shooting will be held for the first time inside the prayer room where six men were killed.
The independent body that oversees the safety of technical systems and equipment in British Columbia has found a deadly ammonia leak near Kamloops last May was a tragedy that took years to unfold.
Retailers and tech companies use many tools to mine consumers for data they can share with third parties, but there are steps consumers can take to protect and safeguard their personal information.
The Toronto police will be rolling out an increased presence across the TTC following a rash of violent, and sometimes random, incidents on the city’s transit system.
U.S. President Joe Biden led a moment of silence at the White House on Thursday in honour of the victims of separate shootings that killed 11 people at a Southern California ballroom dance hall and and seven others at two mushroom farms in the northern part of the state.
The National Archives has asked former U.S. presidents and vice presidents to recheck their personal records for any classified documents following the news that President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence had such documents in their possession, two people familiar with the matter said Thursday.
Outraged rebel police officers paralyzed Port-au-Prince on Thursday, roaring through the streets on motorcycles in protest of a slew of killings of police officers by Haitian gangs.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday the Nazis tried to rob millions of Jews of their names before killing them during World War II -- but at the inauguration of an installation with the names of 4.8 million Holocaust victims he said they failed and all those slaughtered 'shall never be forgotten.'
A farmworker charged in the killings of seven current and former co-workers at two Northern California mushroom farms admitted during a jailhouse interview Thursday that he committed the fatal shootings.
Canada is sending four combat-ready battle tanks to Ukraine and will be deploying 'a number' of Canadian Armed Forces members to train Ukrainian soldiers on how to operate them.
The CEO of Via Rail says that after a tree fell on a passenger train as it travelled on CN Rail tracks during the holidays, it took the freight company longer than hoped to clear it -- and passengers on board were stuck for 18 hours.
Liberal member of Parliament and former cabinet minister Kirsty Duncan has announced that she is taking an immediate medical leave due to a 'physical health challenge.'
New research indicates that head injuries are associated with two to three times higher mortality rates in adults, with neurodegenerative diseases more likely following instances of head trauma.
A chance discovery by an Edmonton area woman who was walking her dogs has turned out to be a massive fossilized bone that likely belonged to an Ice Age mammoth.
Retailers and tech companies use many tools to mine consumers for data they can share with third parties, but there are steps consumers can take to protect and safeguard their personal information.
Sarah Del Seronde is a big believer in interrogating the word 'legacy,' particularly as it relates to her late husband, the filmmaker Jeff Barnaby. Before his death in October, the 46-year-old had an outsized influence on Indigenous storytelling -- and Seronde said that part of his work is ongoing.
Shares of BuzzFeed Inc. extended gains to more than double in value on Thursday on reports the digital media firm was planning to use artificial intelligence to personalize and enhance its online quizzes and content.
The federal privacy watchdog says Home Depot shared details from electronic receipts with Meta, which operates the Facebook social media platform, without the knowledge or consent of customers.
A landmark lawsuit by the U.S. Justice Department against Alphabet's Google over its dominance of advertising technology could help rivals and websites that sell ad space, but leaves an uncertain future for the advertisers themselves, experts told Reuters.
Elena Rybakina, a 23-year-old who represents Kazakhstan, reached her second final in a span of three major tournaments by beating Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (4), 6-3 at the Australian Open on Thursday, signalling a rapid rise toward the top of tennis.
The head of France's professional handball league resigned Wednesday after pleading guilty to child corruption and child pornography charges -- the country's latest sports scandal before it hosts next year's Paris Olympics.
The IOC made clear Wednesday it wants Russians to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics as neutral athletes, in defiance of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy's call to exclude them entirely.
Tesla said it intends to invest US$3.6 billion to expand manufacturing capabilities in Nevada and is confident growing software-related profits, reflected in record net income reported Wednesday for the fourth quarter of last year, will keep margins higher than any other automaker.
Toyota set up a new leadership team Thursday in what the Japanese automaker said was a move to stay abreast of social changes like electrification and becoming a wider 'mobility company.'
