Timmins city council has passed a resolution on the recurring idea of postal banking and is hoping to be a voice in the ear of federal Liberals on the matter.
The resolution, as read aloud by city clerk Steph Palmateer on Monday, says that due to 'drastic cutbacks' and a 'huge public outcry in response, as well as 'stiff opposition from most federal parties', the city would motion to make a formal presentation to government officials.
The federal Liberal government led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made election promises to stop cuts to Canada Post, and to find sensible solutions to the issues which have dogged the organization in recent years.
'Therefore, be it resolved that Corporation of the City of Timmins provide input to the Canada Post Review task force and consider making a submission when the parliamentary committee consults with Canadians this fall," read Palmateer, which was the final paragraph.
Councillor Pat Bamford was perplexed by some of the phrases in the document.
"I wonder if that last part of the resolution is really what we want. It gives us a job of actually making a presentation to parliamentary committee," he said.
Bamford suggested that they simplify the wording to merely state that the municipality wants to encourage the government to implement postal banking.
"We all know its a win-win for the post office, its a win-win for the people in rural areas, I don't know why we don't just say it?" said Bamford.
Councillor Andre Grzela gave a rebuttal to Bamford's remarks and proposed a minor amendment.
He feels that the wording was fine as it also emphasized the city's support for restoring home mail delivery, making Canada Post more environmentally friendly, and developing services to assist people with disabilities and senior citizens to remain in their homes longer
"I just found it to be a good idea, that if we're going to support a change in Canada Post and implement postal banking, we might as well get the whole caption that is required for this to be feasible operation."
The amended resolution was passed unanimously.
Postal banking would provide expanded access to essential financial services to both rural and urban areas. Canada had postal banks from 1867 until 1969.
Postal banking has generated huge amounts of profit in countries such as New Zealand, Switzerland, Italy, and France. Many voices in favour say that the big banks have been raking in record profits in recent decades, while cutting service, closing branches, and charging some of the highest banking and ATM fees in the world.
Several economic analysts have suggested that postal banking could save Canada Post.
Citizens interested in providing input can visit canada.ca/canadapostreview
