Politicians, postal workers, union representatives and concerned citizens, including some with mobility issues, voiced their opinions on the planned phasing out of home delivery in most areas by Canada Post over the next five years at a meeting at the Juniper Centre in September, and most were opposed to the plan.
Gord Fischer, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) national director for the prairie region, travelled north from Winnipeg for the meeting and said the union’s concerns with the plans included the potential for as many as 15,000 jobs losses by the time the plan is fully implemented to undesirable side effects like lowered property values and a decrease in community safety. Fischer noted that community mailboxes in Fort McMurray, Alta. were moved because it was creating an unsafe situation. He also said that mail carriers act like the eyes and ears of a community.
“It actually is the first line of an emergency service,” Fischer said, noting that mail carriers notice when something is out of the ordinary. “They notice when there’s mail building up. In a lot of ways they’re like a neighbourhood watch because they see what’s going on.”
The loss of home delivery would be a blow for people with disabilities, said Kristopher Blake, president of People First Thompson Chapter and People First Manitoba, self-advocacy organizations for people with intellectual disabilities. Blake said the prospect of heading out to a community mailbox in a manual wheelchair in -40 degree Celsius weather is daunting.
“Don’t let this happen,” said Blake, adding that seeing the mail carrier was a bright spot in many people’s day. “They’re part of our lives and they’re a good part of our lives so let’s save this service.”
Thompson MLA Steve Ashton said he remembered when Thompson first got home mail delivery and said the city is not designed to accommodate community mailboxes.
“I’ve often wondered where they expect to put these things in the parts of Thompson that were never designed for this purpose,” he said. “Whose lawn is it going to be on? What about traffic issues, what about snow-clearing issues? You don’t want to be the home that’s in the vicinity of this. Canada Post doesn’t pick up the stuff that’s discarded. Canada Post assumes no responsibility so guess who’s going to be stuck with that responsibility? The surrounding homeowners or quite frankly the city itself.”
Churchill MP Niki Ashton, who had planned to be at the meeting but was unable to attend, addressed attendees in a video message, saying that door-to-door mail services is vital in many of the communities she represents.
“For these communities our postal service is a lifeline,” she said. “Arrival of house-to-house delivery was a sign of progress. We’ve heard a lot of myths that Canada Post isn’t sustainable or profitable. Stand up and tell Prime Minister [Stephen] Harper and his government to save Canada Post.”
Fischer said the decision to eliminate door-to-door service is not irreversible, recalling that Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservative government had a plan to close public post offices in 1986-87.
“It’ll be a slow conversion process,” said Fischer. “They stopped that program. Fight like hell to keep it is the message.”
Fischer said Fred Pollard, Canada Post’s general manager for western Canada operations, was invited to attend the meeting but decline, which Fischer said was what had happened at similar meetings in other communities.
“So far their attendance rate has been zero,” said Fischer. “Unfortunately they won’t attend. We would much rather have them here to debate us.”
He also said that people need to speak up to convince the government to back down.
“If enough people do it, starts to have an effect,” Fischer said. “This can’t be the biggest issue that this government has to deal with. I believe there is a tipping point. I believe we can win. I think we’ve just got to keep fighting and then we will win this.”
CUPW, seniors’ groups and organizations for people with disabilities joined together to launch a legal challenge to the attempt to phase out home delivery, CUPW said in an Oct. 16 press release. A challenge will be filed in the Federal Court of Canada under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, arguing that the decision exceeds Canada Post’s authority and should be made via Parliament.
