Liberals to miss second self-imposed deadline for Canada Post review: official

The federal Liberals will miss a second self-imposed deadline for deciding whether to restore door-to-door mail delivery to thousands of Canadians, says a government spokeswoman.

The most recent delay is frustrating the union representing postal workers as issues surrounding the future of Canada Post are figuring prominently in negotiations to reach new contracts with the Crown corporation.

The Liberals had said they expected to release a decision on door-to-door delivery before the end of 2017 as part of a wide-ranging review of the mandate of Canada Post.

Former Public Services and Procurement Minister Judy Foote had initially set the target date for a decision in the spring.

But that deadline passed with the Liberals saying they needed more time to review two reports on the future of the postal carrier one from a task force and one from the House of Commons government operations committee. Both reports were finalized in late 2016.

Now the government is aiming for a decision at an unspecified date in 2018, said a spokeswoman for the current minister, Carla Qualtrough.