PAGE 12, WEDNESUAY AUGUST 10, 1983, WHITBY FREE PRESS Typwrier .'Canada Post responds to Worth column ,f ý The foUlowlng la a should relly be isn't correct to say the. operations on a self- that ishould pies press release submltted lgnored. it la wrong- Post Office offers ad- sustalnlng flnanclaleern. R Ebf À& sby Canada ýPot Cor. headed, mean-splrlted vertiser free basis." Because of this, eWorThsays Canag R EN TA LSu eute o ndfctalyicorct isrbution thorugh the Cnd otand its og rednt also SALES &,S R C Roger Worth. tack bas been What la accurate i pting to incease feI<> z eutiveSoh £ 81V ac'.usa.u81 1> Roger Worth of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business that Canada Post Cor- poration la som.how out to ruin the. nation's smaUer newspapers antri wte very newspapers Worth dlaims are tihe victima of thé. Corporation's Admail pollcy. Probably the. first tilng 1 should em- phasize la tbat we are not promoting adv.r- tlaing ventures that wlll leave, to use Worth's expression, "smallest papers ... the. hardest hit. Consider this. Over one haif of the members- of the. Canadian Com- munity Newspap.r Association have free distribution as a resuit Of "free. area"Y distribution by Canada Post for some weeklies (2nd Class Mail - Rate Code 2). Newspapers within this free area can distribute 2,500 copies, including ,advertising inserts, flyers, etc. at no charge. Copies beyond the 2,500 linit can be mailed for as littie as 4.2 cents for 200 grams. Compare this to the basic householder Mail rate of 5.8 cents for 50 grams (11.5 cents for 200 grams). Clearly it just the statement that Canada Post, dhlrey and indlrectiy, belpo subsidize- and support Omanl newspapers across Canada. stiuthe matter of why Canada Post la In tiie Admail business. Accordlng to Worth, "'ighly paid postal em- ployees (are) promotlng advertlaing ventures that compete directly with other media in the. real business world". The. fact la, Admail predates the existence of many smail and larger newspapers 'and currently supports an extensive direct marketing'industry sold about 850 million dollars wortii of products and services. If this doesn't sound 1ke the. "real world", wiiat la? It is also what we are mandat.d to do by Parliament. Tii. Canada Post Cor- poration Act specifies "the Corporation in carrying out its objects,ý shall have regard te tth. need to conduct its revenue by maklng available te Canadians thie various services they are able to offer. That's why we at Canada Post are pl.ased that Admail currentIy generates 28 percent of our volumes and i perçent of Our revenue. In, dolng so, Admail helps, substan- tially, towards paylng the cost of operating a national mail service. Pefrhapo this la the worth thatWorth fails to, understand. His column implies that. public money, "government subsidized, . staff", la someliow not- the publlc's money. He notes, for example, tliat Canada Post la directly subsidlzed "lby tii. *governent" for $400 million. Well, It isn't government money, it is your mhoney and -mine that currently pays the post office deficit. And one of our corporate goals, along with better human relations and botter service, la hi reduce that-> taxpayer subsidy te zero. if we can do this, by' promoting Admail wbile, still .helping -small newspapers with low- cost, or no-cost, rateg, Re R. 'la be 44shmet# o tid seve faoard pof tiem sAdals fopro ot ashamed, proud. They are proud 0f the continulng lmn- provement ion-timo Performance, whlch wusup 4percet itlfl firat quarterof the yemr. They are proud etlm- provements hi tue spedIm -o international mail, faster by a week I many cases. Tiiey are proud of thIintroduc- tion of new services, such as EnvoyPost alec- tronlc mail. Tiiey are' pleas.d at 'theiili- provind financlal and service picture of ths< great national lin- stitution. 0f course mucii stiui bas to bo don. te um- prove and strengthen Canada Puft, but a start bas been made. Admail will help i aciiieving the. Corporation's goals and w. will continue to promote It., I hope' that com- munity newspapers and the. public generally will support tuis effort, because both benefit now and will bonefitý in the. futur. from an lin- proved financial position for Canada Post 'Corporation. Mainstream Cana] A res ponse ta. Canada Post"r SUmmE CLEAR..ANCE SALE TIQER PAW A6.0 SERIES PRICE 205x60R13 132.15 235x60R14 146.80 245xe0R14 168.90 235x60R15 168.90 255x60Rl5 190.90 265x60A15 2112.85 ON SALE 91.00 108.00 110.00 110.00 123.00 135.00 TIGER PAW R70 SERIES 1 75x70R1 3 205x70R1 3 1 95x70Rl 4 205x70R1 4 225x7OR1 5 235x70R1 5 PRICE 92.00 118.80 119.66 128.45 155.90 NAVIGATOR Il PACEMARK LIGHT TRUCK AU. SEASON ON SALE ON SALE PRICES NOT INSTALLED i 55x80R1 2 47.00 1 55xEcR1 2 45.00 700x1 5 Rib 65.00 E5x80Rl 3 48.00 1 55xEcR1 3 47.00 700x1 5 Lug 71.00 165x80Rl3 51.00 175x75R13 49.00 75Oxl6Rib -40 185x80Rl3 55.00 185x75Rl4 58.00 750x 6 Lug 79.00 i 35x75R1 4 63.00 i 95x75R1 4 59.00 800x1 6.5 Rib 80.00 2 5x75R14 65.00 215x75Rl4 66.00 800x 16.5 Lug 86.00 2dJ5x75R1 5 67.00 205x75R15 63.00 8.75x1 6.5 Rib 83.00 215x75Rl5 71.00 215x75RI5 69.00 8.75x1 6.5 Lug 93.00 225x75R1 5 75.00 9.50x168.5 Rib9.0 235x75R1 5 79.00 9.50xl 6.5 Lug 102.00 40,000 MILE WARRANTY ROAD HAZARD 155x80R13 68.00 185x75Rl4 74.00 205x75R15 83.00 175x75R13 70.00 195x75RI4 77.00 215x75R15 85.00 185x75FR13 71.00 205x75R14 79.00 225x75RI5 89.00 18 5x8 0R1 3 72.00 215x75Rl4 82.00 235x75Rl5 95.00 " fREE INSTALLATIN " FREE WHEEL BALANCE " FREE VALVE STEM WHILE SUPPLIES LAST ON SALE 84.00 85.00 89.00 104.00 I 107 WARREN ST. VAN HEMMEN TIRESz:..P > Ry W Roger Worth Canada Post President * Michael Warren and bis felIow * executives were flot amused by * an carlier column that took * the postal monopoly to tasit J for unfairly competing witb community newspapers. Indeed, in a response (bat was printed in s ome papers, Canada Post- claimed my column was "factually in- cor rect." Now that's a serious allegation againstmnepersonally, particular1m,' considering the column is sent to about 500 community newspapers users across the country. Even after follow-up dis- cussions with Canada Post of- ficiais, there is but one reply: 1 stand by eacb and every fact in the carlier column. The main point of that col- umn deserves to bc reiterated. Canada Post is using post- masters, postmistresses, and other staff to help develop a market for local advertising flycrs, which are then de- livered by the posties. These flyers effectively draw adver- tising dollars away from hard- pressed comrnunity papers, and particularly the smnallest papers that are such an in- tegral part of community ife. The problem: Canada Pos, and by extension its em- ployees, are subsidized by tax- payers to the tune of hundreds * of millions of dollars per year. By usinig subsidized staff to compete in this market, Canada Post is creating unfair competition. Having said that, les con- sider just one point made in Canada Post's reply. The Crown corporation takes great delight in cm- phasizing that more titan one- haif the nation's community papers get frcc dclivcry, of 2,500 copies per wcck, com- pliments of Canada Post. That would indeed bc a" it feather in postal caps,, if it V were truc., To borrow a y phrase,' Canada Post is "fac- tually incorrect." c As part of a long-standing tradition, the federal govern- ment's Department of Communications, actually pays Canada Post (now a Crown corporation actig in-, dependently on its, own) for subsidized delivery of magazines and newspapers, botb dailies and weeklies. The polcyý_ good one. Our forefathers (and mothers) undersood'the necessity and crucial importance of infor- mation and communications to a growing country as large and diverse as Canada. So they created the publications subsidy (bat has worked so wcil to ensure a free press in Canada. "dWe estimate Canada Post received about S 13-million from the Departsnent of Com- munications to cover the cosu of free delivery of commuaity papers last year," says Jim Dilis, Executive-Director of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association. With its huge deficit, there is no question Canada Post could use extra revenue de- rived from such opcratinns as Admail, the postal efiterprise (bat promotes the use of flyers, sales pieces, and other gimmicks delivered througb the mails. But whcn heavily subsidizcd postal staff are involved in crcating direct competition for smaller fringe papers, many of thcm figbting for survival, something is amiss. In the carlier column, 1 said Michael Warren and Canada Post should bc ashamned of themselves, and suggested they state categorically (bat their employees wiil no longer participate in sucit unfair yen- tures. 1 stand by that state- ment. CFfB Feitue Seivic ~ .- .- - -, ý-- < - ý 1 ý ý - ý - e ý> . ý Mi" 1 = mi