Hour 2 of Ottawa Now for Mon. September 29th, 2025

From November 15th to December 17th of last year, Canada Post employees hit the picket lines. The feds took action to halt the dispute before Christmas, and both sides have quietly tried to mend broken fences since then. But after the feds gave Canada Post the green light to cut the cord on door-to-door delivery, CUPW employees are on strike again, with labour peace still unachieved. Can community mailboxes work in densely-populated parts of Ottawa? What about other cities, or even rural areas of the country? Kristy Cameron digs deeper with Richard Shearmur, who works at McGill University’s School of Urban Planning. Meantime, small businesses who still rely on Canada’s biggest courier are biting their fingernails. And according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, 15 percent of the country’s small business armada has either reduced or completely eliminated their reliance on Canada Post following the 2024 labour dispute. In Hour 1, we talked to Aileen Leo, a spokesperson for the Ottawa Mission. This hour, we chat with John Thompson, who is the owner of The Record Centre. Plus, a handful of Starbucks locations in the National Capital Region won't be serving customers anymore. CTV's Kimberley Johnson runs through the list of stores who have hit the chopping block.