Cities across the country have launched an effort to preserve door-to-door mail delivery, even as the first cuts loom this fall.
Canada Post announced last December it would begin phasing out door-to-door delivery for the one-third of Canadian homes that still have the service, replacing it with community mailboxes. Since then, over 70 municipalities have joined together in opposing the measure, which Canada Post says would save $500-million per year.
One of the biggest issues that all municipalities are stating is a lack of meaningful consultation,” said Oakville Councillor Tom Adams, who tabled a motion that passed unanimously asking the federal government to preserve door-to-door delivery. Oakville is one of 11 communities scheduled to lose the service in the first wave of cuts by October.
Other major cities that have passed resolutions in support of door-to-door delivery include Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Hamilton.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has been organizing demonstrations across the country since December, most recently this past weekend in Peterborough, Ont. The union has also hosted town hall meetings in partnership with cities to encourage citizens to contact their MP.