Canada Post complaints coming in from around Regina
Frustrations are stacking up in three Regina neighbourhoods about the frequency — or lack of it — of Canada Post mail delivery.
Some residents of North Central, Varsity Park and Glencairn say they've gone days and sometimes weeks without mail — and it's affecting their livelihoods.
Stacey Ferguson, who lives in the Varsity Park neighbourhood in the city's southeast, says she noticed in early February she was not receiving her mail.
"I didn't honestly pay much attention to it until the phone calls started, and then I started questioning, 'Hmm.. I don't let my bills go.'"
At one point, Ferguson said she went 10 days with an empty mailbox. Then she found out her letter carrier had injured her leg.
Canada Post says that particular employee missed just five shifts, and on those days it sent temporary workers to cover the route.
Ferguson, however, insists she was left scrambling. At one point she says had less than 24 hours before the heat would be cut off.
"My SaskEnergy [bill]: I got the bill and then the late notice and the cutoff warning in one day," she said. "That's not good."
Across the city, in the North Central neighbourhood, Leanne McKay-Bellegarde says her letter carrier is also away.
McKay-Bellegarde says she has lupus, a broken leg and a teenage son to support and was waiting on her social assistance cheque.
"I expect some service. I've had no service," she said.
She says she and other residents haven't received mail in about a week. She filed a complaint with Canada Post but was told it could be 5 to 10 days before she gets a response.
"I don't have five hours," she said, "I am surprised my landlord isn't here right now with a 24 hour eviction notice."
In an email to CBC, Canada Post pointed to staffing issues as a source of problems.
The email also notes that mail volumes in Canada have dropped by at least a billion pieces since 2006, resulting in a "serious challenge" for the company.
Meanwhile, back in east Regina, Sharianne Caffet said she and her neighbours in the Glencairn area had received no mail for five days.
"After calling Canada Post's 1-800 number and filing numerous complaints, we were informed that, because it has not been five business days, Canada Post will do nothing to attempt to locate our mail or investigate our lack of service," Caffet said in an email to CBC.
There could be hundreds of people affected, she added.
"Regardless of what we are waiting for, the fact that we are waiting with no redress, and no answers, and no one looking into it, is unacceptable," she said.
