Community Newspaper Publishers Need Fair Rates and Quality Service from Canada Post

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Community newspaper publishers are asking the Honourable Joël Lightbound, Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement and Québec Lieutenant, to direct Canada Post to offer publishers the same rate it offers to the country’s dominant flyer printer.

Canada Post recently consolidated its stranglehold on the flyer distribution market by offering lower rates to the country’s dominant flyer printer than to community newspaper publishers. Publishers have seen a sudden and significant drop in flyer revenue, which has traditionally covered the door-to-door delivery cost of the majority of the 9 million community newspapers distributed each week across Canada.

“The flyer business eroded overnight, and we had to make some very tough decisions,” said Mike Power, chief executive officer of FP Newspapers, which shuttered Community Review, a free community newspaper which served 200,000 households in Winnipeg.

“We are asking Minister Joël Lightbound, the Minister Responsible for Canada Post, to direct Canada Post to offer newspapers fair and reasonable postage rates and quality service," said Benoit Chartier, President, Hebdos Québec.

“Our flyer volumes have been cut by about 80 per cent, and all that volume has shifted over to Canada Post, which is an immediate existential threat to many community newspapers,” said Duff Jamison, chief executive officer of Great West Media, which publishes newspapers in more than 40 Alberta communities and also operates a 70,000 sq. ft. printing facility.

“Canada Post is wreaking havoc on the livelihoods of newspaper carriers and publishers, while paying out $30.8 million in performance bonuses in the midst of incurring a $1.57 billion loss,” said Lisa Sygutek, president of the Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association.

“Canada Post enjoys a statutory monopoly but has been abusing that privilege to stamp out competition in the flyer distribution market for years,” said Paul Deegan, chief executive officer of News Media Canada. “It should not be operating at cross-purposes with Department of Canadian Heritage, which has been recognized by WAN-IFRA (World Association of News Publishers) as a respected global leader in smart media policy.”