FREDERICTON – Email, Facebook, Twitter. How many people send a letter anymore? Not enough, says Canada Post.
“Our volumes have declined immensely from 2006 to 2012. We’re down one billion pieces and letter mail decline is still happening,” said John Caines, Media Relations officer with Canada Post.
“It’s definitely a sign of the times. This is happening not just in Canada but right around the world.”
In January the crown corporation announced a five-point plan that includes cutting door-to-door delivery of mail. Instead, Canadians can expect to start picking up their mail from community boxes.
“It costs twice as much to deliver mail to the door as it does to a community mail box,” said Caines in an interview with Global News on Tuesday.
By making the switch, Canada Post said they’ll be saving over $400-million a year. But opponents like Ruth Breen with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, claim there are other costs – and that those costs could be transferred to the municipalities and the taxpayer.
“Where are they going to go? How is the traffic going to move around that spot when you have 100 vehicles turning around in the same location on all hours of the day and night? What does that mean for city infrastructure around lighting and policing?” Breen said.
Fredericton city council wants to know the answers to those questions too. They joined other cities from across the country and passed a resolution asking Canada Post to maintain door–to-door service.
Councilor Greg Ericson said it’s not just about the cash, but also the social costs.
“Municipal leaders are very close and very aware of the social costs of the removal of services. Several of my colleagues spoke to how this will impact the community of elder Frederictonians, and Frederictonians with impairment issues,” Ericson said.
Breen is also concerned with where the community boxes will go.
“In Fredericton we have beautiful old architecture. Is that going to be now left with a big old mail box standing in front of it?”
Caines said that’s all part of work that’s still to come.
“We recognize that dense urban cores in larger cities, with older neighbourhoods and smaller lots, they present a different challenge for us, so we’re going to locate those mail boxes somewhere, but we just don’t know where.
“So we’re going to work the communities, and we’ll do the more dense areas at the end of this five-year program.”
The cuts will mean about 8000 fewer jobs, though Canada Post said it will manage losses through attrition.
Comments