Deepak Chopra (Canada Post)

Deepak Chopra is a Canadian businessman who was, from January 18, 2011, until March 31, 2018, the president and chief executive officer of Canada Post Corporation. Chopra is a certified general accountant and a member of the Certified General Accountants of Ontario. In 2009, he was named a Fellow of the Certified General Accountants of Canada. He served from January 2011 to March 2018.[1] Previously he was the President and chief executive officer of Pitney Bowes Canada and Latin America.[2]

Chopra was appointed to these roles by the Conservative government of Stephen Harper on January 18, 2011, for a five-year term from February 1, 2011, to January 31, 2016.[3] Chopra took over the post from Stewart Bacon, who returned from retirement as interim president and CEO in July 2010 when then-CEO Moya Greene left to take over Britain's national carrier, Royal Mail. This appointment was renewed by Harper's government in July 2015, just before the scheduled federal election in October 2015, for a five-year term starting February 2016 at an approximate salary of $500,000.[4]

In 2013, Canada Post, led by Chopra, introduced the extremely unpopular[5][6][7][8][9] plan of eliminating door-to-door delivery of mail and converting to "community mail boxes." This plan was opposed by all federal parties except the Conservatives during the Canadian Federal Election of 2015.[10] The plan was stopped by the Liberal Party after they won the election.

Following the 2015 federal election, Chopra was asked to resign and re-apply for his position by the newly elected government of Justin Trudeau. Chopra refused in a letter written by Sian Matthews, chair of the board of directors for Canada Post.[11] In the summer of 2017, he announced that he would be stepping down on March 31, 2018, three years before his term was originally due to expire.[12] He was succeeded, on an interim basis, by Jessica McDonald, former CEO of BC Hydro, effective April 2, 2018.[13]

  1. ^ Baadke, Michael (13 February 2018). "Canada Post head Deepak Chopra to step down; new CEO sought". Linn's Stamp News. Archived from the original on 13 February 2018.
  2. ^ "Get to know our business | Our company| Canada Post".
  3. ^ Canada Post, "Deepak Chopra appointed Canada Post President and CEO" (January 18, 2011)[1] Archived 2011-01-25 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Canada Post president gets new, $500K contract". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 2015-12-11.
  5. ^ "May 2017: Canadians still want door-to-door mail: Poll". Winnipeg Free Press. 25 May 2017.
  6. ^ "Majority of Canadians oppose Canada Post service changes: Survey | Globalnews.ca".
  7. ^ "A timeline of Canada Post's contentious community mailboxes - National | Globalnews.ca".
  8. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-04-20. Retrieved 2017-06-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ Ha, Tu Thanh (25 May 2015). "Ontario court to hear more opposition to Canada Post's end to home delivery". The Globe and Mail.
  10. ^ "Grits May be Backing Away from Door-To-Door Mail Pledge". 7 December 2015.
  11. ^ Campion-Smith, Bruce (10 December 2015). "Canada Post chair rejects Liberals' call for Deepak Chopra to step down". The Toronto Star.
  12. ^ "Canada Post head Deepak Chopra stepping down in spring of 2018". The Globe and Mail. 14 August 2017.
  13. ^ Canada Post Board of Directors appoints Jessica McDonald Interim President and CEO