Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon says contract negotiations between Canada Post and its employees are going in the “wrong direction.” He’s asked the Canadian Industrial Relations Board to determine if the parties are likely to reach a deal by the end of the year and, if not, to send them back to work—for now. Rather than demand binding arbitration, the minister wants to punt the talks to the spring and hopes to have letters and parcels moving by Monday. (The Logic)

Talking point: With Christmas looming, many packages are already delayed, but MacKinnon says the holiday rush isn’t the only reason to get the post moving again. Rural and Indigenous communities, reliant on Canada Post, have faced nearly a month without alternatives. The strike has also stranded critical items like secure correspondence, some 190,000 passports, and other government documents. Still, Ottawa wants a negotiated solution, so MacKinnon has tapped arbiter William Kaplan to lead a commission to study the structural issues preventing a deal and present recommendations to the union, employer and the minister in hopes of spurring a resolution.