The Ben Mulroney Show - Should the Government bail out Canada Post, or is it time they change their business model?

Episode Date: May 21, 2025

Guests and Topics: -Should the Government bail out Canada Post, or is it time they change their business model? with Guest: Tony Chapman, Host of the award winning podcast Chatter that Matters, Founder of Chatter AI If you enjoyed the podcast, tell a friend! For more of the Ben Mulroney Show, subscribe to the podcast! https://globalnews.ca/national/program/the-ben-mulroney-show Follow Ben on Twitter/X at https://x.com/BenMulroney Enjoy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lots of great stories to break down right now, including what to do with Canada Post. A lot of us have been waiting with bated breath as to whether or not there's going to be a strike. It looks like there'll be a strike on Friday. And and maybe it's time to reinvent this storied institution. So with this story and so much more, we're joined by Tony Chapman, the host of the award winning podcast, Chatter That Matters and the founder of Chatter AI. Tony, welcome back to the show. Always a pleasure to be with you. All right. So let's talk about this Canada Post. I mean, it's a tale as old as time. It's an institution as old as anything else in this country. So many

people, so many businesses depend on it, but it's broken, it's broke. What do we do with this institution? You know, it's tough to tell this to people, but is it time to close this institution down? And the reason I say it is, as a country, we need to prioritize, where do we put our dollars? And I would argue Canada Post, and it's not just the operating loss per year

that's the issue, the issue with Canada Post, and it's not just the operating loss per year that's the issue, the issue with Canada Post is also the pension funds that taxpayers are on the hook for. So I think it's time we really look and say, you know, there's a business out of Ottawa called Trexedy. It's just got, you know, delivering parcels. There's, you know, there's Federal Express. There's a whole bunch of different businesses that I think would rise to the challenge if they knew they didn't have to compete against a crown corporation that subsidized and would say that's a market we can deliver. I mean, Uber certainly did that with delivering food to your home. So there's no reason for me to believe that entrepreneurs couldn't fill the gap

and just absolutely move on from hand-delivered mail to just delivering it electronically. Well, that and, but, and I think that's a laudable goal to get to a point where we don't need Canada Post anymore, but I think that's gonna take years. I think there has to be a transition in place. And well, one of the things I was floating, Tony, was the idea of getting rid of daily mail except for certain businesses that require it.

But for people like myself that don't need to get the mail every day, so long as there was a commensurate legislative change that allowed for an extended period of time to pay bills, for example, like credit card bills, if they added an extra week to how long you had to pay those credit card bills, then that would satisfy the sort of the slowdown

in mail service, don't you think? Yeah, but it's also taking a bandaid off of festering wound. And what's underneath is that the, what Canada Post used to deliver was our ability to connect to the world. I mean, we stood, I mean, there's no doubt humans love to be connected. We probably waited at the window to see if the Postman

was bringing us a letter, a note, or a card. I would argue those days are done. So you're talking about his essential services, the businesses that need that parcel to be delivered to someone else. And I would argue the longer we hold off on this, the more it's going to be sort of this broken supply chain. And I'd like to just say, why don't we reinvent a new link, take some of our government money and go, we will help to fund the small businesses that need to set up this kind of service in more remote areas, where the economics might not make sense. But in the major cities, to me, having a crown corporation responsible for delivering parcels to to

businesses doesn't make sense when I know entrepreneurs can do it faster, better, and more efficiently. All right, well, let's move on to Netflix. It seems almost every week they make a major announcement on another property that they've either acquired or have built from the ground up. And now they've got a new one that I really didn't see coming. Netflix is the new home to Sesame Street. Yeah, I mean, this is a brilliant move on two fronts. First of all, Netflix, that first mover advantage and what they continue to do is step on the accelerator. We're often first mover advantage gives away to disruptors that come in and do it better.

Netflix is saying no way we're going to continue to be in the content game. Now they're moving in not just what I saw with a major move into sports last year, but now into children's programming. You know what it's like with young kids. They want to watch the same shows over and over again. So if you have all of that access on one channel, it creates a condition at home that says, okay, we get the Netflix set up for the kids. They click on it. We know we're safe. We know they're going to be watching the right programming. They're not going to get bombarded by a million ads. That makes sense to me. So I think it's a very strategic move. And then they also not going to get bombarded by a million ads, that makes sense to me. So I think it's a very strategic move.

And then they also allowed PBS to continue to air it because they didn't want to be that data-driven organization that puts public broadcasting out of business. I think that's just a brilliant PR move. But the reality is, there's no doubt in my mind, parents will migrate over to Netflix if they feel that within the Netflix family, there's enough children's programming to satisfy what they want. It's just not just entertainment, but they want these kids to be learning by watching. And I think no one does that better than Sesame Street. Look, the fact that they've gotten into live sports, they've got live shows now, the fact that and now they're going to have Sesame Street for kids.

I mean, they're hitting every every demographic at this point. And they've got data. Understand that they know how old your kids are, they know when they're growing up, they know what parents are allowing and not allowing. All of this stuff is so valuable to monetize on Netflix's point of view. And that's why in this data game it's not about third or fourth, it's about really being a dominant player. And I would imagine we're going to see more consolidation in the streaming business, because economically being number four, number five doesn't make sense. If subscribers are saying no matter what, I'm going to have Netflix and maybe one other service. Tony Chapman, we've seen hockey players at the Olympics, we've seen basketball players

at the Olympics, and now we're going to see NFL football players at the Olympics in 2028 for Olympic flag football. First of all, I didn't even know that that was a sport yet, but who's the bigger winner, do you think? Is it the Olympics where they're going to have this marquee show and game that people are going to watch, or is it the NFL which is going to have an international global audience? I think the NFL is the loser in this. I think the Olympics is great because they're going to get marquee players. NFL should be building their brand around the globe, which they're doing anyways, but tackle football. That's their brand. That's their positioning. But they'd be like going to NBA and say, we're going to do three man basketball, the Olympics, because very little

for your sport. Like football and football, I couldn't think of two sports more different other than they share the name football. And I think if anything, it's degrading the brand. And don't get me wrong, I'm sure people will love the sport and they play it and they play it with the heart. But ultimately, the NFL is the Mecca for football., and therefore if you're going to bring football to the Olympics, it should be tackle football. I don't know, Tony. I think there's going to be something really cool. First of all, like don't forget,

basketball is a global sport, right? So when they play basketball at the Olympics, you have marquee incredible players on almost every team. Obviously the Americans are the high water mark, but there are other teams out there that are fantastic as well. I don't know that you're gonna have anything but a dominant American team

and everybody else playing for second and watching the physical skill of American players versus lesser players is I think gonna showcase the excellence of these athletes. You know, it's such a, I mean, we could argue this for hours because I would say then maybe we should draft Andre Degrassi because he's the fastest 200 meters sprinter in the world and he should be out there because flag football is just going to be about speed. And it's

just, it's a completely different game. I mean, to me, it's, I don't even understand how that's the first of all, an an Olympic sport but if it's an Olympic sport and they really want to bring football in because they know the marquee value of the NFL that bring the NFL in and yeah it'll take a few years they'll type something when the Americans first started playing basketball the professional it was no contest but last Olympics Greece put on a hell of a show well I'm glad you brought up Greece because Adidas has had an ad that they put a drone performance above the Acropolis and people are outraged over this. What do you make of that? People are being a little precious, no? I think you're a little precious, but what I love is

the bureaucracy within Greece blaming each other. The permit for doing so, I think, was about $11. Somebody missed the file. But yeah, you know, listen, I understand that your culture, like, they'd be like putting Adidas over the Vatican. I think you've got to be very careful when you cross the line. But I happen to think of the Acropolis and Adidas and the Sebastian for what Olympics stood for was a brilliant move from Adidas point of view. And the fact that they're getting so much controversy over it is just giving a much bigger bang for their buck because it was just you know, and how cool are these drone shows? I know they're amazing. I think people should just turn down the outrage and appreciate the visuals. Tony Chapman always a pleasure having you on the Ben Mulroney show. We'll

see you soon. You bet. Bye bye. The best high concept sci fi rig of her all in the universe is back. What the hell? How long was I out? Close airlock seven! Rick! Beth, please let me out.

Rick put you in there for a reason, sweetie. Mom, just... Get back here! This is for your own good! Rick and Morty, new season, Sundays on Adult Swim. Get back here! This is for your own good!