canadians on the forum - thoughts on losing door-to-door mail delivery

[tball]

The Canadian postal service is catching flack for announcing Wednesday that it will be phasing out urban area door-to-door mail delivery over the next five years.
Opponents say the plan that includes the losses of 6,000 to 8,000 jobs and increased stamp prices will adversely affect the poor and especially disabled and seniors.


I only know of the post office's goings on here in the US -- and know just went up on stamps again, but for the cost, really is a bargain (this coming from a former mail carrier)

so then, for all our north of the border forum friends -- what are your thoughts feeling (if any) of the phasing out of your mail service??

 

[ChrryBlstr]

It's a bunch of crap and yet another example of how our current (conservative) government is purposefully targeting/eliminating unions, despite mail delivery being an essential service.

Canada Post CEO Deepak Chopra is a board member of the think-tank that urged mail changes, National Post, Dec. 12 2013.

"The Crown Corporation's CEO is on the board of the think-tank that suggested we cut door-to-door mail deliveries, eliminate thousands of our mailmen, but keep all of the senior management at Canada Post.

There is something fishy here. You can?t hire and take advice from a think-tank and call it "independent" when you sit on the think-tank's board -- especially if you are cutting thousands of jobs, yet keeping the executive team intact. Before Canada Post makes such dramatic steps to eliminate thousands of mailmen and dramatically cut services for Canadians, the Crown Corporation needs to come clean. Demand that Canada Post stop its cost cutting plans and call for an investigation on this possible conflict of interest.

Canada Post: Stop the elimination of jobs, continue hand deliveries, and conduct a full investigation into the CEO's conflict of interest."


Canada Post's Deepak Chopra says seniors want exercise from picking up mail
An emergency parliamentary committee is asking questions about cancellation of urban mail delivery

http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/politics/story/1.2469061


Postal workers' union fears cuts will hurt seniors, disabled
CUPW says it's disappointed, but not surprised with plan to cut thousands of jobs

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/postal-workers-union-fears-cuts-will-hurt-seniors-disabled-1.2459803

Peace!

 

[hedgehog]

I wish the US would do away with the postal service all together. Only mail I get is bullshit flyers that go straight to the trash. I do everything electronically, my bills are electronically emailed to me and I pay them electronically. I have 10 stamps I just bought, since I mail something about 2 or 3 times a year and I bet they are still in my work drawer a year from now.

 

[Sportsaholic]

I have 10 stamps I just bought, since I mail something about 2 or 3 times a year and I bet they are still in my work drawer a year from now.

:mj11:

 

[hedman]

I wish the US would do away with the postal service all together. Only mail I get is bullshit flyers that go straight to the trash. I do everything electronically, my bills are electronically emailed to me and I pay them electronically. I have 10 stamps I just bought, since I mail something about 2 or 3 times a year and I bet they are still in my work drawer a year from now.

No christmas cards?

 

[ImFeklhr]

How is this going to work? Everyone has a post office box or something? How do you get your mail? :shrug:

 

[tball]

How is this going to work? Everyone has a post office box or something? How do you get your mail? :shrug:

excerpts from the (above) articles


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manito...bled-1.2459803

"Having to make your way to a postal box in ?29 C weather with snow on the ground is incredibly difficult even to fully-abled people. Look outside today. There's nobody walking," she said.


[h=2]http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/politics/story/1.2469061

Canadians with disabilities[/h]Asked how the post office would accommodate people with disabilities, Chopra said extra mailbox keys would be given to people so others could pick up their mail, or the height of community mailboxes could be adjusted.
Chopra told Conservative MP Peter Braid that many other countries have been looking at expanding the use of parcel lockers.
Both Denis Lemelin of the postal workers' union, and Robert Campbell, president of Mount Allison University and an author of two books about Canada Post, pointed out Canada is the only country to completely eliminate door-to-door delivery. Campbell was speaking by video conference from Sackville, N.B.

 

[kickserv]

It won't affect that much of the population, but it will be annoying for some. Please keep in mind for the past 20 years there have been 100's of thousands of people in Canada that do not get mail delivered to their door (or mailbox at end of driveway).

Not to mention the amount of people that live in big apartment buildings that have to go down to the lobby to get their mail.

There are lots of people that live "in the middle of nowhere" and have never got mail delivered to their door, ever.

I don't think it is a big deal at all actually. Although if I was 85 years old and had mail delivered to my door, yet now it is at a post office box 2km away, then yes that would suck.

Bottom line do what Great Britain did, UK Government continues to hold a 38% stake, the rest went private, that makes it a competitive market, time to go that route I'd say. Perhaps then customers could make a choice.

 

[kickserv]

Oh and keep in mind the Postal Union in Canada is powerful, don't think for a second all this has been decided.

 

[kickserv]

How is this going to work? Everyone has a post office box or something? How do you get your mail? :shrug:

I have lived in locations where my mail and parcels never got delivered to me. You get a box and two keys or a password keypad. The box could hold quite a bit of stuff, you could be gone for three weeks and still plenty of room, they are not tiny little boxes like the cubby hole ya had in kindergarten:SIB

 

[kickserv]

It's a bunch of crap and yet another example of how our current (conservative) government is purposefully targeting/eliminating unions, despite mail delivery being an essential service.

Many would say getting rid of unions is a good thing, just sayin'.




It isn't 1931 any longer, I think Canada (and USA for that matter) would be better off without unions, I know that is a broad statement but you get my point.

Yes, yes, yes, I know I know, unions do lots of good, but too many times they actually make things worse.

 

[ChrryBlstr]

"The exaggerated crisis in our postal service is part of an agenda being used to justify a reduction of public services and the slow privatization of segments of it, including in the postal service."

Many Canadians conclude ? wrongly ? that Canada Post is a drain on the public purse, with taxpayers bailing out the service annually.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Canada Post has been a profitable public enterprise; it has returned more than $1.5 billion in profits to taxpayers over the past decade. This was done while having one of the lowest postal rates in the world and only increasing the rates by two-thirds of the rate of inflation for many years, all while paying good wages and benefits to employees.

Only in one year was there a small loss, due to the lockout of employees

http://www.thespec.com/opinion-story/4307214-canada-post-s-invented-crisis/

Peace!

 

[Skanoochies]

Newspapers are more important to me than mail. And they are slowly disappearing also.
Kamloops B.C. A daily there delivered the last copy on Friday. That morning cup
of joe and the paper is ruined if it comes to that. E-mail and like the other poster said
receive your bills and pay them on the net has changed life forever.
Ah it`s the shits to get old folks (77 june 4th) so don`t be in any hurry to get there.
Have a good year.:0074