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The Town of Pincher Creek received a letter from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) expressing concerns about changes in postal services that include the loss of door to door delivery services, Post Offices shutting down in smaller communities, along with other issues. CUPW requested the Town of Pincher Creek send a letter to the Minister of Transport regarding these changes to Canadian Postal Services. At the regular meeting of council on September 29 the council agreed to draft a letter that specifically addresses the concerns of this community rather than use the one prepared by CUPW. At the regular meeting of Council on October 14, council unanimously agreed to send a letter that had been drafted by administration at council's request, with minor changes to how the Minister was to be addressed.
The letter, here quoted from October 14 Regular meeting of Town Council agenda includes a number of points including:
- "The primary concern for the Town Council as representatives of the community residents, is dependable and cost effective mail delivery."
- "We believe that the Postal Service is more than a business in Canada, it is an establishment that is integral to our local communities and our country; a system that the country was built on."
- "We ask also, that rural community post offices be maintained. Their closures would have a devastating effect on our close knit communities."
Canada Post is confident the Plan to Secure Postal Service for all Canadians will stand up to legal scrutiny
Canada Post is confident that its plan to secure postal service for all Canadians, including those with disabilities or mobility issues, will withstand any and all legal scrutiny.
While two thirds of Canadian households do not receive mail delivery to the door, making the decision to transition the remaining one third of households to community mailboxes was difficult. Digital alternatives are rapidly replacing traditional mail and that trend will accelerate. As a result, people are using Canada Post differently than they have in past years. In 2013, Canadians mailed almost 1.2 billion fewer pieces of mail than they did in 2006. The changes being made are necessary to secure the future of postal service in Canada and avoid becoming a burden on the taxpayers.
Canada Post remains committed to ensuring the right approach is taken and no one is left behind. All Canadians must have access to the postal service.
The company also has in place a robust accommodations program based on best practices developed and utilized by municipalities, provinces and federal institutions. In addition, Canada Post spent months talking with human rights experts and regional and national organizations with extensive expertise in the field of accommodation to ensure the Corporation was taking the best approach.
Changing the way Canada Post delivers the mail across the country will help secure postal service for all Canadians.
For many years In the small rural communities the town post office was one of the gathering places where people would meet and be socially interactive. Canada Post is endeavoring to equate the community mailboxes as such a place hence the name community as part of mailboxes. There is one part of the equation missing and that is the human touch. In the rural community post offices there was a real person that would greet people as they walked through the door and possibly have treats such as home baked goods. home made jams and jellies would also be a part of the social experience. As time marches inexorably on the Canada Post landscape is changing as it becomes more and more profit driven for the shareholders than service driven for the people. Seems to be a familiar story all across this great country of Canada that we are all a part of. The Canada Post legalese response seems to support that perspective. It is a politically correct response to say forget it people of Canada we have made our decision and the wheels of this train are locked in the forward position and it is full steam ahead no matter what the outcome to the people it runs over in the process. From the glory days of the pony express to the modern day delivery of the mail to households across the nation the march of automation continues. It is unfortunate that the personal mail delivery touch is slowly being eroded to the cold empty metal of the community mail boxes. Will they be the same community gathering places as the warm rural community post offices were. No they will not because they are missing the human component in our fast hectic paced lives that we all seem to be living these days. In this profit driven society we currently live in we are we all a part of the demise of the rural community post offices to be replaced by the cold metal reality of the community mailboxes? Change is a constant and always hard to swallow and all change is not always for the better of the people involved but it is still change none the less.
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