06) DEEPAK CHOPRA FEEDS PITNEY BOWES

People's Voice Editorial

            While the federal government is busy getting Canada Post ready for privatization, CEO Deepak Chopra is way ahead of the game. Chopra, who is conveniently the former CEO of Pitney Bowes, has cut a sweet deal for this transnational and its corporate customers, who get cut‑rate postal rates because they buy their postage using Pitney Bowes meters.

            Just how sweet is that deal? Why it's 50% off, all day, every day! So while you now pay a dollar to mail your letters ‑ or 83 cents each if you're mailing 100 letters - corporate customers are paying just 75 cents each for their metered postage. And Pitney Bowes, which has the monopoly on cut‑rate postage rates thanks to Deepak Chopra, is just lovin' it while raking it all in.

            Thanks Harper! This odious scandal is yet another reason to kick out the Tories and save Canada Post, before the threatened elimination of urban door-to-door delivery becomes a nasty reality. And remember this scandal every time you contemplate the future: walking down icy city sidewalks to your new supermailbox, hoping that criminal gangs haven't busted in to steal your private correspondence.

            Good postal service at reasonable rates should be the right of all Canadians, both in urban and rural areas. That's especially important for seniors, people with mobility issues, and the millions of Canadians who need postal services, not just email.

            To win that right, we need to curb corporate power, dump the Tories, and block the right wing forces imposing their entire privatisation-cutback-profiteering agenda. It's time to demand action on people's needs, and to stop feeding Deepak Chopra-style corporate greed!

(The above article is from the April 16-30, 2014, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)