Newsroom - Letters to the Editor

March 7, 2008

(Letter sent to the editor of the Calgary Herald)

Dear Editor:

I was surprised with the lack of factual information in Emma Gilchrist’s story, “Dump the junk”, particularly since I spent a considerable amount of time with her discussing the real issues surrounding the unaddressed print advertising material distributed in Canada.

Let me set the record straight with some undeniable facts that were conveniently omitted from the story. Canada Post delivers only 20 per cent of unaddressed print advertising in Canada. The newspaper industry, including the Calgary Herald, deliver 50 per cent and private distributors deliver the remaining 30 per cent.

Canada Post is the only delivery company that respects the wishes of consumers not to receive such material through our consumers’ choice program. What choice do newspaper subscribers have if they don’t want to receive the mountain of advertising in their Wednesday and weekend papers? NONE.

Here are more facts your readers may be interested to know. Sales in Canada as a result of direct mail activities exceed $20 billion. The direct mail industry employs some 140,000 Canadians. Direct mail is a cost effective way for small businesses to enter the marketplace and to compete against larger companies that can’t afford multimedia campaigns. And non-profit organizations raise millions of dollars for charitable causes through direct mail.

Like most environmentally sensitive businesses, Canada Post participates in a recycling program. If people are really concerned about the amount of unaddressed print advertising material distributed in Canada, they should focus their attention on the major distributors…the newspaper industry.

Sincerely,

John Caines
National Media Relations
Canada Post
613-734-7675