Re: Canada Post in deep trouble (Our View. Jan. 17)
A major controversy in the news these days is Canada Post’s plan to cut costs by cancelling home delivery. But how can they justify further cuts to a system that is already under-serviced and underfunded despite constant increased fees to customers?
The proposal to stop home delivery is a red herring – it diverts our attention from the fact home delivery service from Canada Post has been deteriorating badly for years and proper expeditious delivery of our mail stopped a long time ago.
In my apartment building, for example, a confidential personal package was left by our mail carrier out in the lobby, where anyone could take it. A package of extremely sensitive materials was left leaning against my door in the hallway in full view of my neighbours.
Canada Post policy dictates that a customer must be notified by an outside buzzer when their signature is required on a letter or package. But with multiple letters, the mail carrier never bothered to call me and stuck a notice in my mailbox. Many times, I had to travel on the bus seemingly all day to receive them.
In another incident, the mail carrier left a notice hanging on my doorknob in full view of anyone passing in the hallway, putting my personal security and privacy at serious risk.
The final straw was receiving a letter today a week after it was postmarked by the Post Office – from an address a few blocks away in Fernwood. Pony Express would have delivered it sooner. A carrier pigeon would have been more reliable.
The home delivery system from Canada Post is badly broken. Shouldn’t it be fixed before other options are considered? Will delivery to outside boxes be even worse? Is that possible?
Doreen Marion Gee
Victoria