For the last 12 years, Noelle Hannibal has been making the trek to her community mailbox in Vaudreuil. Recently, that trek has gotten a little tricky.
“I noticed that it was very icy in front of the mailbox, so I was especially cautious, which didn’t matter — my feet completely slipped out underneath me, and I landed flat on my back,” she said.
Hannibal says after falling, she tried to get up, but fell again.
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She says the spill has left her with sore muscles, a few bruises and a lot of frustration.
“It’s a completely ridiculous thing that happened that I now have to suffer in this pain because somebody didn’t do their job,” Hannibal said.
It’s up to the city to clear snow and apply abrasives to the streets and sidewalks, but it is up to Canada Post to ensure that its community mailbox sites are accessible.
“Our safety going to our mailboxes should be as important as them delivering the mail and if they’re not salting in front of the mailboxes they’re risking our safety,” Hannibal said.
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In a statement to Global News, Canada Post said that it takes the maintenance of its mailbox sites very seriously.
“Our operations team … indicated that they haven’t received customer service requests or feedback from letter carriers that the community mailbox sites on avenue de la Canardière have required additional maintenance.”
“We ask residents to contact our customer service at 1-800-267-1177 to report and record the incident.”
Hannibal said she plans to file a complaint with Canada Post. But until it’s safe, she said she’ll change the way she goes to get her mail.
“I need to check my mail and I don’t know how I’m going to do it other than crawling,” she said.