JAY GOLDBERG: Canada Post and illicit drugs: another reason to privatize a failing Crown corporation

Article content

There are many reasons to private Canada Post. The fact that cartels use the postal service to help facilitate the contraband drug trade should be one of them. 

As Canadian consumers and small businesses are left in limbo about whether mail delivery will once again be interrupted by a strike for a lengthy period, as was the case last November, a new report shows a lesser-known danger of leaving Canada Post with a government-mandated monopoly. 

Many Canadians know that Canada Post continues to lose hundreds of millions of dollars a year and has required multiple government bailouts. Some Canadians know that Canada Post is on a trajectory toward bankruptcy, which would leave taxpayers holding the bag. What fewer Canadians know about is how the illegal drug trade is flourishing through Canada Post’s delivery services. 

A newreport by David Clement called “Cartel Activity in Canada” looks at the illicit drug trade in Canada. The report was written in the wake of the Trump administration’s focus on illegal drugs flowing across the Canada-United States border, which has played a role in the two countries’ months’ long tariff dispute. 

Mexican drug cartels are a major problem in Canada, according to Clement. Their presence in Canada has beengrowing for the past 20 years. While Clement does not believe Mexican drug cartels are as prevalent in Canada as the Trump administration seems to believe, he notes that they are a big problem nonetheless, with the RCMP noting Mexican drug cartels are now engaging in drug trafficking, money laundering, and human smuggling within Canada’s borders. 

Where does Canada Post come into play? 

Recent research shows that a lot of illegal drug markets are increasingly moving online. These online retail platforms mirror legal online marketplaces but sell goods that are not legal. These drug markets sell everything from cocaine to contraband tobacco, often paid for via E-transfer, and shipped directly to the door via Canada Post. 

As Clementnotes, “Because these online retailers are using Canada Post for shipping, Canada Post has become a massive facilitator in the market for illegal drugs.” 

In some cases, Clement finds that these illegal drug marketplaces will ship packages via other couriers. But predominantly, Canada Post appears to be the carrier of choice. 

Why Canada Post? 

One can speculate that a big part of the reason is security and ease of access. These illegal drug traders are likely to use the shipping service that is the least secure because they will be the least likely to get caught. The fact that traffickers prefer Canada Post speaks to a lack of security within the network. 

It’s little wonder why. Canada Post lost over$800 million last year alone and hasn’t posted a profit since 2017. A Crown corporation doing that poorly has bare cupboards and a limited ability to improve security. 

This is yet another reason to privatize Canada Post. Countries across Europe have privatized their postal services, and the outcome has been more efficiency, better quality of service, and, in turn, better security. Canada Post could benefit from taking the same path. 

Canadians cannot accept the status quo with Canada Post. Consumers shouldn’t be held hostage to increasingly regular strike threats. Taxpayers shouldn’t have to provide billion-dollar bailouts. And drug traders shouldn’t be able to take advantage of a beleaguered delivery service to deliver illicit drugs. 

Canada Post’s own CEO, Doug Ettinger,says that things must change. And one of the reasons why is that Canada Post is living in the past. 

“Our current structure was built for a bygone era of letter mail – the status quo…is not an option.” 

According to Canada Post’s very own CEO, the organization is still built for a bygone era of household mail delivery. It is little wonder why Canada Post has become a target for the illicit drug trade. 

It’s time to end the Canada post nightmare, for the sake of both consumers and taxpayers. Canada Post should be privatized and modernized, and doing so will represent an important step toward cracking down on the illicit drug trade in Canada. 

— Jay Goldberg is the Canadian Affairs Manager at the Consumer Choice Center