Free Mail During the Centennial Period
Members of the House of Commons

This article deals with free mail sent by Members of the House of Commons during the Centennial period.


At the beginning of the Centennial period, letters and other mailable matter addressed to or by any Member of the House of Commons while at Ottawa, during any session of Parliament, or during the ten days immediately preceding or following a session of Parliament could pass free of postage provided these letters and other matter were posted at or addressed to the House of Commons and not to the private residence in Ottawa of the member.

This was amended on July 1,1971. Members of the House of Commons could send mail, free of postage, from any place in Canada and receive mail, free of postage, at any place in Canada, at any time of the year, for the duration of Parliament and ten days following dissolution of Parliament.

In addition, on and after July 1, 1971, members of the House of Commons could send from any post office in Canada free of postage to constituents four mailings of printed "householder" matter, for any fiscal year.

Parliaments during the Centennial period and examples of Free mail

There were three Parliaments during the Centennial period:

1. 27th Parliament : January 18, 1966 - March 23, 1968
2. 28th Parliament : September 9, 1968 - September 1, 1972
3. 29th Parliament : January 4, 1973 - May 4, 1974

1. 27th Parliament : January 18, 1966 - March 23, 1968

This minority parliament under Liberal Prime Minister Lester Pearson was the first Parliament of the Centennial period.

The first cover shows the elements which are seen on free mail letters from Members of Parliament:



In the lower left corner of the envelope is the name of the member. It is the handstamped signature of Member of Parliament Alvin Hamilton:



The House of Commons dated meter with hour indicia in green ink indicates that this is a Free letter:


Mailed August 23, 1967 at the 11th hour

The reverse of the envelope usually identified the letter as being sent from the House of Commons:





The biography and photograph of Alvin Hamilton, Member of Parliament, can be found at the House of Commons web site:

http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Lists/Members.aspx?Parliament=0d5d5236-70f0-4a7e-8c96-68f985128af9

(The above URL was correct on June 15, 2010)



The author's album page for this cover looks like this:




The second cover is from a Member of Parliament whose initials are stamped in the lower left hand corner:



In this case the MP is only identified by intials:



The member can be identified by going through the House of Commons MP alphabetical list posted on the House of Commons web site:



"J.G.L. MP" is James (Jim) Gordon Lind.

Here is the author's album page for this cover:



2. 28th Parliament : September 9, 1968 - September 1, 1972

Pierre E. Trudeau led the Liberals to a majority government in 1968.


Card autographed by Trudeau during the 1968 campaign

David Weatherhead (Scarborough West)



Wally Nesbitt (Oxford)



Unidentified MP

When several MPs have the same initial, identification of the MP is never a certainty. The address to which the letter is written may assist in the identification, since Members' mail is often addressed to constituents. The initials corresponding to the MP whose riding matches the address on the letter is the most likely MP. The riding list is available from the House of Commons web site. The identity is only suggestive since it is possible that an MP could have written the letter to a non-constituent.

The MP with initials "G.B."could not be identified:






Three Members of Parliament had the intials G.B.:

Gerald Baldwin (Peace River, Alberta)
H. Gordon Barrett (Lincoln, Ontario)
Gustave Bloiun (Manicouagan, Quebec)

The handstamps produced for the next Parliament included the constituency name.

3. 29th Parliament : January 4, 1973 - May 4, 1974

The Canadian federal election of 1972 resulted in a Liberal minority government under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

Walter Baker (Grenville-Carleton)

The MP initial handstamp which included the riding name was introduced in the 29th Parliament.








John Diefenbaker (Prince Albert)

Former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker ended his political career as an opposition party MP. His handstamp had been manufactured for an earlier Parliament.

Despatch Notes During the Centennial Period

Despatch notes accompanied parcels to international destinations and were to remain with the parcles and delivered to the addressee. The forms were usually not returned to the senders.

The following information was provided on the despatch note:

• Name and address of sender and addressee
• Weight of the parcel
• Amount of postage paid
• Route to be followed

1. This is a despatch note (1960 form) for an insured parcel sent from Campbellton, New Brunswick to Stockholm, Sweden, on December 12, 1967:




Weight of Parcel..................1.6kg
Value of Parcel.....................79 Francs (gold)
Canadian Postage Paid........$2.45
Customs Fee.........................265 ore

2. The next despatch note (1971 form) was for a parcel sent by air mail from Montreal to Stockholm on October 11, 1972:



Canadian Postage Paid........$2.45
Customs Fee.........................400 ore

An acknowledgment of receipt form was prepared by the Swedish Post Office and signed by the addressee:

Parcel Post to Great Britain During the Centennial Period


This article deals with a parcel piece from Canada to England mailed in 1970.



This insured parcel was mailed from Peterborough, Ontario to Woking, England on September 16, 1970. The rate for this service was $2.50 (Peterborough meter).

Canada Post Office insured handstamp applied and insured label affixed:



British Redirection

The Post Office at Woking redirected the parcel to Mill Hill, England (neither original nor redirected address was kept on the piece). A charge of 4s 6d was levied for this service.




Decimalization of British currency occurred on February 15, 1971. The postage due labels cancelled at Mill Hill, England, are an interesting mix of the decimal 20p (4 s.) and the 6d. values:

Underpaid International Air Mail Correspondence During the Centennial Period


UPU Regulations : Underpaid Air Mail Correspondence

According to the "Universal Postal Convention" of both the Vienna Congress of 1964 and the Tokyo Congress of 1969, air mail correspondence was to be forwarded if the amount of air surcharge was paid. Countries of origin could forward by air if the amount paid was at least 75 % of the air mail surcharge:

Article 59 1. ...underpaid surcharged air-mail .... shall be treated as follows: ... (b) in the event of underpayment, surcharged air-mail correspondence shall be forwarded by air if the charges paid represent at least the amount of the air surcharge; nevertheless, the administration of origin shall be permitted to send these items by air when the charges paid represent at least 75% of the surcharge....

If at least 75% of the air mail surcharge was paid, the originating country could forward the item by air mail. Otherwise the item was sent by surface mail.

Countries with surcharged air mail systems, such as France and Italy, required the sender to pay the surface letter rate and an air mail supplement. Canada was among countries that had inclusive air mail rates, i.e. a single-component rate. The Canada Post Office's approach to the UPU rule was to require at least 75% of the inclusive rate to be prepaid for air mail service.

This article shows four examples of mail that were denied air mail transmission because they were underpaid and one example of underpaid mail that was allowed air conveyance.

A. Underpaid Air Mail Denied Air Conveyance

1. Underpaid Air Mail Letter to Europe 1968



Air mail service was requested for this letter sent from Montreal to Zurich, February 2, 1968. The air mail letter rate to Europe was 15 cents. Only prepaid 8 cents, this letter was 7 cents underpaid for air mail transmission(53% of the inclusive air mail rate), and therefore sent as surface mail. However, the surface letter rate was 10 cents, so this letter was 2c shortpaid and taxed accordingly.

Instructional Marking:


Bilingual instructional marking

Canadian Tax Fraction:


Numerator : Double the deficiency 4 (cents)
Denominator : International surface letter rate (10 cents)

Swiss Amount Due (centimes):



Calculation for this charge:



Swiss Stamp paying the charge:



2. Underpaid Air Mail Letter to Rhodesia 1969



The above letter was posted from Streetsville to Salisbury on February 3, 1969, prepaid 15 cents. The air mail rate to Rhodesia was 25 cents. Since less than 75% of the air mail rate was prepaid the letter was sent by surface mail. The surface letter rate was 12 cents.

The Canada post office initially applied a "T" handstamp, suggesting that the letter was going to be taxed, but the postal employee stamped "Short Paid For Air Conveyance" over the "T":



3. Oversized Postcard to Israel 1969



The large postcard sent from Niagara Falls to Israel on April 17, 1969, had dimensions that were contrary to regulations and was treated as a letter. The air mail letter rate to Israel was 25 cents. The card was prepaid 15 cents and was not conveyed by air because less than 75% of the air mail rate had been paid. The surface letter rate to Israel was 12 cents.

The instructional handstamp was in English only:



4. "Other Articles" Air Mail to Great Britain 1968

Printed matter and commercial papers could be sent by air mail at the "Other Articles" rate. In 1968, the other article rate to Great Britain was 15 cents for each ounce (the air mail letter rate was 15 cents for each half ounce).




This unsealed letter qualified for the 15 cents/ounce "Other Articles" rate. The letter was mailed from Downsview to Clydebank, Scotland, on November 5 1968. The letter was prepaid 10 cents, less than 75% of the "Other Articles" rate or the 15 cent per half once air mail letter rate.

The Canada post office initially applied a "T" handstamp, suggesting that the letter was going to be taxed, but the postal employee stamped "Short Paid For Air Conveyance" over the "T":




B. Underpaid Air Mail Given Conveyance

"Other Articles" Air Mail to Uganda 1969

The "Other Articles" air mail rate to Uganda was 20 cents for each ounce.



This "Other Articles" air mail cover from Toronto to Kampala, March 11, 1969, was prepaid 15 cents, 75% of the air mail rate. The Canada Post Office provided air mail service and correctly taxed the item 10 cents (double the deficiency).

Charged International Poste Restante Mail of the Centennial Period

A few Universal Postal Union (UPU) countries imposed a charge on inland Poste Restante (General Delivery) mail. These countries were also allowed by the UPU's " Universal Postal Rules" to charge the same fee for international mail sent to a Poste Restante address. This could only be done by those countries having an inland Poste Restante charge. This article considers two examples of charged Poste Restante mail.

1. Yugoslavia, 1967




This air mail "Poste Restante" letter was sent from Toronto to Split, Yugoslavia on August 26, 1967. Since Yugoslavia charged for inland poste restante mail, this international letter could therefore be charged. The poste restante charge was 1.0 dinaro. Split labels were attached to the back of the envelope and cancelled on September 7, 1967.


Split labels (2 x 0.50 dinars) attached to back of envelope


Split labels


2. Argentina, 1973



This air mail "Poste Restante" letter sent from Calgary to Buenos Aires , April 13, 1973, was charged the 17c poste restante fee. The Argentine stamps were cancelled on April 18, 1973

Argentine Poste Restante Marking

Poste restante mail was returned to sender if not collected within a specified period of time. To keep track of when mail was received and when it should be returned, the Argentine post office applied handstamps indicating the month the item was received.


"IIII"
Mail received in April

Taxation Errors of International Postage Due Correspondence during the Centennial Period
Canadian Post Offices had been familiar with the Vienna System of fractional taxation since 1966 and had been correctly taxing postage due international correspondence since July, 1966 (See "Unpaid and Underpaid International Correspondence: Canada Post Office's Incorrect and Corrected Methods of Taxation 1966" posted on this blog on June 14, 2010.) This article looks at Canadian Post Office taxation errors during the Centennial period.

The two errors discussed in this article occurred shortly after the Canadian international letter rates were increased.

a) November 1968 International Letter Rate Increase

On November 1, 1968, the Canadian international letter rate increased from 10 cents to 12 cents. The correct tax fraction denominator was now 12.


This printed matter letter from Downsview to Finland was mailed on November 10, 1968. The international printed matter rate had increased from 4 cents to 6 cents on November 1, 1968. The letter was underpaid 1 cent.

The Canada Post Office tax fraction is incorrect:




The denominator is incorrect. It should have been 12, the new international letter rate, not 10 (the old international letter rate).

b) July 1971 International Letter Rate Increase

On June 30, 1971, "all-up" letter air mail service was introduced at 15 cents for each ounce. The correct tax fraction denominator was now 15.


On July 1, 1971 "all-up" post card service was introduced at 10 cents for each post card (no increase from the previous air mail rate). This card from Pointe-Claire-Dorval to New Malden, England was mailed on August 22, 1971 (almost one month after the international letter rate was increased from 12 cents to 15 cents). The card was underpaid 3 cents and received this incorrect Canadian marking:



The numerator "6" is correct. The denominator "12" is incorrect.