The 39.5% surcharge for Canada Post deliveries decried by the NDP

A 39.5% surcharge for Canada Post deliveries raises eyebrows for NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, who denounces an “excessive increase” and calls on the government to put a brake on it for the holiday season.

In September, the Crown corporation announced that it would impose a surcharge on all deliveries in order to absorb the increase in the price of diesel.

Currently at 39.5% for domestic mail, the surcharge fluctuates weekly depending on the price of diesel, explains Canada Post.

« It’s going to hit families hard again, especially during this winter season and this holiday season, and it’s going to hit small businesses hard too, » Jagmeet Singh said Tuesday, calling it a « scam. »

The latter asks the government to cancel the increases “so that shipments are more affordable in this particularly unaffordable year”.

« It’s hard enough to be away from loved ones over the holidays and making it harder to send a small gift or comfort package only makes it worse, » Singh added in a statement. written statement.

As a Crown corporation, Canada Post is largely responsible for managing its finances.

The NDP, however, wants to know if the cabinet of the federal government approved this surcharge policy and if it had “analyzed the impact” of this policy on SMEs in the country.

Canada Post and the Ministry of Supply, which oversees the company, had not responded to questions from the QMI Agency at the time of this writing.

“The Liberals are responsible for this decision which will force Canadians to pay more during the holiday season. If Jagmeet Singh really wanted to tackle the cost of living crisis, he would stop supporting Trudeau’s Liberal government, » said Pierre Paul-Hus, Quebec lieutenant for the Conservative Party.