The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The Ontario Court of Justice, in a decision rendered last week, endorsed Canada Post's interpretation of section 14 of the Canada Post Corporation Act, which provides that Canada Post has the exclusive privilege of collecting, transmitting and delivering letters in Canada. According to the court decision, Canada Post's exclusive privilege extends to all Canadian originating letters weighing up to 500 grams whether destined for delivery within Canada or to places outside Canada. This important court decision comes during the course of a lawsuit brought against Key Mail, one of several remailers who have been collecting large quantities of mail in Canada to induct it into the postal system of a foreign postal administration. The court held that Key Mail's activities in connection with Canadian outbound international letters are a violation of Canada Post's exclusive privilege. Parliament has provided Canada Post with the exclusive privilege in order to fund universal postal service to all Canadians regardless of where they live in Canada. The practice by remailers is depriving Canada Post between $48 million and $80 million annually in revenue. The decision will figure prominently in Canada Post's prosecution against other remailers and postal administrations believed to be in violation of the same provision of the Canada Post Corporation Act.
