The News Rundown

Canada Post operations not ‘viable,’ Carney says amid strike action

Canada Post has gone on strike yet again and any outcome to resolve the strike seems far away at best.
Last week the government issued what could be summarized as an ultimatum. Fix Canada Post or else.
Speaking at a London press conference Mark Carney said, “At the moment, Canada Post is not viable. They lose more than $10 million a day — $10,000,000 a day, day after day. The situation needs to change.”
As a result of this the government asked the corporation to move forward with changes to put them on a path towards viability.
The cost saving measures were announced a week Friday ago by Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works, and Procurement Joël Lightbound.
The suggestions include plans to adjust standards of delivery so that non urgent mail can be transported by ground instead of air. They also recommend converting four million addresses to community mailboxes and lifting a more than 30-year-old moratorium on rural post offices, which the government referred to as a “long-standing barrier” to reform.
In 2013 following the aftermath of the last Canada Post strike the Harper government directed Canada Post to embark on a plan to reach financial sustainability.
One of the big items on this list was phasing out home delivery and moving to the community mailbox model.
The plan also asked Canada Post to change its business model and require fewer employees to serve its needs and reduce employees.
In 2013 it was expected that 15,000 would retire or leave over 5 years allowing for between 6,000 and 8,000 to be eliminated by attrition.
The plan was expected to reach financial sustainability by 2019 enabling the potential to generate financial benefits with an expected worth of $700-$900m per year.
In the 2015 election campaign, Justin Trudeau did what sounded good to him and threw most of these reforms out the window.
A company losing millions a day translates into losing roughly $3.6b a year.
This is why the government's request is so blunt, so blunt to fix something that the former prime minister let go on for far too long.
The union has said that these numbers are exaggerated but the values can be seen in Canada Post’s revenue reports.
This ask by the government for Canada Post to reform is what caused them to go on strike.
As a result of that strike action, Canada Post issued a new offer where a $500-$1000 signing bonus is gone, layoffs will be used if necessary, though laid off employees will retain recall rights, and the moratorium on closing rural post offices is ending.
The most recent deal included a 13.59% wage increase over 4 years plus health and retirement benefits with up to seven weeks vacation.
It also includes voluntary buyouts with up to 78 weeks pay to cover job reductions.
Governments across the country including Alberta have activated contingency plans including the allowance for critical mail to be accepted at Alberta government offices and the government will have it delivered.
Mail is considered critical if it must reach an individual to avoid certain health, safety, financial or significant harm to Albertans or to the government, or will lead to legislative non-compliance, and that cannot be sent by other means such as fax, electronically or with another courier service.
Socio-economic cheques will still be delivered by Canada Post monthly during the disruption.
As of this weekend the government and Canada Post await the union's response to this deal though the union has called it a “major step backwards.”
Through all this lost in the context is what led to this strike and the one before it: a Liberal government not concerned with dollar values leading to an insolvent postal agency.
There are those who believe that since Canada Post is a crown corporation it should be able to be operated at a loss. But what loss? One could make the argument that revenue neutral is fine for a crown corporation but millions of dollars a day is not acceptable.
It’s these two realities that need to be squared before any meaningful progress will be made going forward.
Supplementals:

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has called the bluff of both the federal government of Mark Carney, who has been championing major infrastructure projects to reduce our economic dependence on the United States, as well as the provincial BC government of David Eby, who has been investing the province's money in LNG within BC, but has been reticent to support oil pipelines from outside of the province.
Smith announced that the Alberta government plans to develop and submit a formal application to the federal Major Projects Office for a new bitumen pipeline to the northwest coast of British Columbia.
The province announced Wednesday it will commit $14 million to the proposal and act as the proponent, leading a "technical advisory group" that includes three major pipeline companies — Enbridge, South Bow and Trans Mountain — although those companies would not necessarily be involved if the project were to proceed. Some Indigenous groups have already been involved, including the Fort McKay First Nation and the National Coalition of Chiefs.
No specific route for the pipeline has yet been proposed; identifying potential routes will be part of the work the province plans to undertake.
"This project application is about more than a pipeline; it's about unlocking Canada's full economic potential. By doing this the right way from Day 1 with Indigenous partners and industry expertise, we will deliver a proposal that proves this project is undeniably in the national interest."
Smith says: "What stands before us right now is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to unlock our wealth of resources and become a world-leading energy superpower, creating lasting prosperity for generations to come,"
The province says it needs to be the proponent for the application because private industry isn't currently willing to commit the necessary capital to a pipeline like this, given existing federal regulations, in particular the restrictions implemented in 2019 on oil tankers in B.C.'s northern waters. Smith says: "You can't build a pipeline to the northwest coast and still have a tanker ban."
Smith added that she has made her position on the tanker restrictions "abundantly clear" to Prime Minister Mark Carney and is "more optimistic now than I've ever been" that Ottawa will revise that law.
In addition, the premier said she will be seeking "meaningful and substantive reforms" to the the Impact Assessment Act (formerly known as Bill C-69) and the proposed federal cap on oil and gas sector emissions.
Alberta’s NDP leader Naheed Nenshi has criticized the Smith government’s announcement of a proposed West Coast oil pipeline, calling it “an utter failure” and lacking in substance.
Nenshi referred to his previous experience advancing pipeline projects as Calgary mayor, saying that he worked with then-NDP Premier Rachel Notley to get the “first tidewater pipeline in generations built”, referring to the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion.
In contrast, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has voiced his support for Alberta’s pipeline proposal, highlighting its potential to strengthen Canada’s economy and open new markets.
Moe also emphasized that no group outside of the federal government should have a veto over the decision: "There is no B.C. coast. It's Canada's coast. There are no B.C. ports. There are Canada's ports. I feel [like] an equal owner in those ports as a Canadian."
This stands in direct contrast to BC Premier David Eby who has been dismissive of the idea right from the get go. Eby said the pipeline proposal is vague and relies too heavily on government involvement, especially when compared to other projects that are set to come before the Major Projects Office.
Eby's most quoted soundbite on the idea was “Don’t mistake my politeness for weakness on protecting our economy and our coast.” Eby avoided any direct attacks on Alberta when reporters sought his reaction to the pipeline application on Wednesday. He isn’t challenging the application, but he is calling on Ottawa to maintain an oil tanker ban that would make the preferred pipeline route a non-starter.
"British Columbia has literally tens of billions of dollars of real, private sector shovel-ready projects that are going to drive forward not just our economy here in B.C., but the national economy at a time that the national economy is under direct threat and attack by Donald Trump. The problem that we have is that Premier Smith continues to advance a project that is entirely taxpayer-funded, has no private sector proponent, is not a real project, and is incredibly alarming to British Columbians, including First Nations along the coast, whose support is required for the success of the billions of dollars in real projects that I'm talking about."
Eby said the federal legislation restricting tankers on B.C.'s north coast "also secures billions in shovel-ready projects" that are contingent on those restrictions remaining in place.
"To put that tanker ban at threat, it's not just a threat to our pristine coast that so many British Columbians, including myself, value, but it is a direct economic threat to the kind of economy that we're trying to build in the country here," he said.
Smith phoned Eby on Monday, giving him two days of advance warning before announcing that her government would file a pipeline application to Canada’s Major Projects Office. For almost 20 minutes, the two leaders talked about the proposal, but also other issues where they share mutual interests.
This summer, tankers laden with liquefied natural gas began shipping out of Kitimat, B.C. There will be about 170 vessels a year transporting LNG to Asian markets. Meanwhile, the port of Prince Rupert is undergoing a major expansion. The federal tanker ban has been key to securing First Nations’ support for those projects, Eby said.
Former Alberta UCP leader and federal cabinet minister Jason Kenney was much harsher on Eby, saying that he is "objectively a much bigger threat to confederation, and to the rule of law, than Alberta separatists, by actively undermining the Canadian Constitution with his ideological hostility to pipelines, and doing real damage to national unity and prosperity in the process."
Kenney wrote on X: "The late Premier John Horgan also warned me that his party included a “mud hut wing” of green extremists, which I took to include Eby. Eby’s a lawyer. He knows what the Constitution says. He knows what the top Courts said recently and unanimously on this subject. But he doesn’t care because he is, and always has been, an ideological zealot. For him the Constitution, the rule of law, national unity and prosperity must all be subordinated to his ideology."
B.C. First Nations are also pushing back on the project. Marilyn Slett, president of Coastal First Nations – Great Bear Initiative and elected Chief of the Heiltsuk Nation, said in a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon that, “As the Rights and Title holders of B.C.’s North and Central Coast and Haida Gwaii, we must inform Premier Smith once again that there is no support from Coastal First Nations for a pipeline and oil tankers project in our coastal waters.”
This shows once more that First Nations are not a monolith of ideology, because while most Alberta based nations support the pipeline, coastal BC ones do not.
In an exclusive broadcast with CTV’s Power Play, Enbridge CEO Greg Ebel says Canada can “absolutely” be an energy superpower — but federal government regulations are standing in the way. He said this country has the tools to dominate the global energy landscape, with supplies of uranium, natural gas, oil, and gold: “We have everything set up. The only thing that’s stopping us is ourselves.”
Put simply that's what is at play here. Are we as Canadians, in the face of economic threats from the US, content to sit idly by while opportunities pass by? Most surveyed say no, and that infrastructure projects like this should be built. At the end of the day, Prime Minister Mark Carney will have to either defend his "build, baby, build" stance, or capitulate on his biggest campaign promise within the first year.
Supplementals:

Parties have a role in this civic election. Here's how that's being viewed in one Edmonton ward

The municipal elections in Alberta are only weeks away and this week we’ll be looking at the state of the race in Edmonton.
In broad strokes based on numerous polls commissioned the top issues are taxes, cost of living, infill, and public safety.
We’re going to forgo discussing horse race numbers since voter intention numbers can be finicky and the sample sizes for these polls are small.
However, there has been a major shift over 2021 where the majority of those running for mayor now are looking to provide more sensible fiscal solutions for the city.
These include focusing on spending, holding property taxes constant, and changing how the city budgets.
There has been discussion amongst the non-incumbents to city council running to bring forward zero based budgeting.
Zero based budgeting ensures that each years budget starts fresh versus what has been happening as the status quo where council builds on the budget of the previous year when deciding spending.
Another huge issue is infill. Infill is the process of replacing older houses with multiple houses on the same lot.
The present bylaw allows for 8 units to be built on a single lot and has had many people including mayoral front runner Tim Cartmell and several running for council calling for the process to be scaled back.
Caroline Matthews, who is running in Ward Métis, said infill is the No. 1 issue she is hearing while door-knocking.
She said, "It's their neighbourhoods, their communities, and probably the single-largest investment that they've made has been in their home and we need to respect that.”
Matthews is running for the Better Edmonton party that Tim Cartmell created.
Cartmell and the Better Edmonton party is interested in growing both the commercial and industrial tax base, lowering business taxes, implementing zero based budgeting, and growing the downtown.
On the flip side Andrew Knack who entered the race once he saw that Sohi would not be running again is simply calling for “responsible budgets”, zero based budgeting to fine tune spending, and creating an affordability access program to make life more affordable, promote transit, and protect core services.
Knack has changed his policies over time as it became clear that more was going to need to be done to create the perception that city council is responsive.
As the existing figure who has been on council years, will Knacks policies be enough?
The other issue that has arisen has been political parties.
Existing independent candidates have opposed the provincial changes enabling political parties. Others like Tim Cartmell and Better Edmonton have embraced it.
The other party running candidates is PACE the Principled Accountable Coalition for Edmonton.
Ward Métis candidate Ashley Salvador sees political candidates as a bad thing because she cites the number of times she was persuaded to change her vote based on a presentation of member of the public.
There has also been the blind but wrong assertion in the media that there were no parties before.
However, during the last election there were coordinated endorsements by the outgoing mayor and NDP MLAs for city council candidates.
The political involvement even reached a point where now councillor Michael Janz had his campaign managed by Lou Arab, Rachel Notley’s husband.
This time around Janz is also involved with the “Working Families collective” that claims to not be a political party but the group has put out advertisements asserting “conservative parties are fighting for control of our city.” This verbiage was seen in a TikTok video voiced by Janz put out by the Working Families collective.
The interesting thing is that Janz’ group looks more like a political party than Better Edmonton.
Last week Tim Cartmell gave an interview where he said that the Better Edmonton party would go dormant after the election and would not have any impact at the council table and has maintained its candidates are independent.
Better Edmonton has also distanced themself from the provincial UCP.
Conversely, Working Families registered as a third party advertiser so it could have more liberal finance rules and is backing a full slate of candidates and mayor.
Working Families is backing Andrew Knack.
Working Families also has mobilized local unions to help canvas and get the vote out.
As a third party group Working Families will not have their name appear next to a candidates on the ballot which makes it harder to identify the candidates that favour the status quo: higher taxes, more infill, more spending, more bike lanes, and a more liberal social policy overall.
The lines for the likes of Janz and those around Working Families were drawn in the last election, they’ve now been formalized but the media is near silent on Working Families compared to that of Better Edmonton or PACE.
We have to of course ask ourselves why. Are they simply not connecting the dots or is there a subtle media endorsement in play?
Supplementals:

Firing Line

Poilievre claims Christians 'may be the number 1' victims of hate-based violence

Earlier this week, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre made a bold statement that Christians and their places of worship are being targeted and, if elected, he will crack down on religion-based hate through tougher sanctions for crimes like arson.
Speaking to reporters at an announcement on food inflation, Poilievre said he has watched with alarm at the "terrible" spate of church burnings, incidents he described as "terrorist attacks" directed at Christians. He made an even bolder claim that "One hundred churches have been burned. Christians may be the number 1 group that are victims of hate-based violence. But, of course, it's not politically correct to say that."
Poilievre said "this anti-Christian hate needs to stop," and he pledged a tougher criminal stance to try and tamp it out, including mandatory prison terms for extortionists, stronger laws against hate crimes, the deportation of foreign criminals and more resources for police and border services. "Frankly, Canadians of all faiths, including Christians, deserve to worship in peace," he said.
On the face of it, the message seems fairly easy to get behind. Canadians have enjoyed freedom of religion for some time now, and allowing people to worship in peace should be an easily popular defence of our Constitutional freedoms,
When we've talked about hate crimes on Western Context in the past, we've been very clear that it's actually Jewish people that seem to be targeted the most, and have had a large uptick since the pandemic. This is backed up by Statistics Canada data, which shows the majority of hate crimes targeting a religion reported by police in 2023 were directed at Jews (70 per cent) and Muslims (16 per cent).
There were a total of 1,284 hate crimes targeting a religion that year — a sharp 67 per cent increase from 2022, and a phenomenon largely driven by more police-reported incidents against Jewish (900 hate crimes) and Muslim (211) communities.
Statistics Canada does show there was an uptick in hate crimes directed at Catholics in 2021 — religion-based violence that came after the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation said preliminary findings from a radar survey of the grounds of the former Catholic-run Kamloops Indian Residential School indicated as many as 215 children could be buried on the site. So far, no such excavation has confirmed the nation's hypothesis.
There were 43 police-reported crimes targeting Catholics in 2020, according to Statistics Canada data, and that figure jumped to 155 the year after. Since then, the number of crimes against Catholics has dropped.
However, hard data on the incidence of overall anti-Christian attacks in Canada is not yet available because the currently cited data on anti-religion hate crimes in Canada does not account for non-Catholic Christian churches. In recognition of this vacuum, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada is planning to launch an anti-Christian hate crime tracker.
Still, this doesn't mean that Christians and their places of worship aren't being targeted. Last week, a century-old Ukrainian Orthodox Church northeast of Edmonton was torched during what police described as a crime spree — the latest in a series of arson attacks.
It is hard to pinpoint just how many churches have been torched or defaced in recent years but there are some data points to suggest it's a relatively common occurrence in the 100s. A recent report from the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, citing data tabled by the government in the House of Commons, found 238 arson attacks on churches and other religious institutions between 2021 and 2023 — up from 152 in the prior three-year period.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church near Edmonton that burned completely to the ground was a devastating event for the hamlet of Bellis, a small area of about 100 people.
Annette Flack has been the secretary treasurer of the All Saints Ukrainian Orthodox Parish of Bellis since 1989. She was married in the church and her four children were baptized in it.
Flack said: “To see our church reduced to a pile of rubble, which means nothing to the people that took it. That means everything to us children growing up, to my mom, to our family. This church has always been the pillar of the community, whether it was having services here or having fundraising suppers or us going carolling to the community at Ukrainian Christmas."
Of the three who were arrested, one is a minor who can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. The other two — Sandy Dawn Marie White, 23, and Lazare Favel, 26, of Saddle Lake First Nation — along with the unnamed youth, are all facing numerous serious charges. Police believes there is at least one more suspect that has yet to be identified or arrested.
Favel did not make bail and appeared in court in Fort Saskatchewan on Sept. 25, while White was released on conditions to appear before the same court on Oct. 23.
Poilievre ripped liberals for enabling the rash of church attacks, calling out their policies of reduced penalties for arson, their redirection of resources from police and border services to targeting farmers and hunters, and their “divisive” identity politics.
He said he would take the “opposite approach” if elected prime minister, including “tougher laws” for hate crime perpetrators and redirecting resources away from targeting “sportshooters” and toward police services.
He said: “Because frankly, Canadians of all faiths, including Christians, deserve to worship in peace.” This is a statement that Canadians of all faiths, or even no faith should be able to get behind.
Supplementals:

Quote of the Week

"The late Premier John Horgan also warned me that his party included a “mud hut wing” of green extremists, which I took to include Eby. Eby’s a lawyer. He knows what the Constitution says. He knows what the top Courts said recently and unanimously on this subject. But he doesn’t care because he is, and always has been, an ideological zealot. For him the Constitution, the rule of law, national unity and prosperity must all be subordinated to his ideology." - Former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s reaction to BC Premier David Eby’s opposition to Alberta pipelines.

Word of the Week

Proponent - a person who advocates a theory, proposal, or project.

How to Find Us

Westerncontext.ca

westerncontext.ca/subscribe

westerncontext.ca/support

twitter.com/westerncontext

facebook.com/westerncontext

Show Data

Episode Title: Premier Pipeline Proposal
Teaser: Mark Carney says Canada Post needs to change to be viable, Danielle Smith proposes an oil pipeline to northwest BC, and the Edmonton municipal election draws near. Also, Pierre Poilievre says Christians are the #1 target for hate crimes.
Production Code: WC-438-2025-10-04
Recorded Date: October 4, 2025
Release Date: October 5, 2025
Duration: 1:03:57
Edit Notes: Pause after BC

Podcast Summary Notes

Duration: XX:XX