Loss of home mail delivery concerns voiced at Kingsville meeting

Dozens of people in Kingsville voiced their concerns about the loss of home mail delivery at a public meeting organized by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers Tuesday night.

Canada Post is planning to cut home delivery by 2019 and replace it with community mailboxes in neighbourhoods.

"From an accessibility standpoint, some of our seniors won't be able to reach the mailboxes," said Ford Queen, Kingsville deputy mayor. "That's some of the concerns that have not been addressed in other communities already."

James Robinson, who was also at the meeting, said he dreads the idea of being forced to go to a community mailbox.

"I'm unable to walk too far now because of my back and my hip," said Robinson. "Therefore, it's an inconvenience, great inconvenience if I have to walk anywhere to pick up my mail."

Susan Baptista lives on Seacliff Drive, and is upset about where Canada Post placed the mailbox used by people in her neighbourhood.

"They put it directly in front of my pool," said Baptista. "Spent a lot of money to put in an in-ground pool, and now people peer over my fence. They peer over my fence when my children are swimming. They use my driveway to turn around, rather than using the cul-de-sac that I live on. It's been an inconvenience, and the amount of traffic that comes by my house is horrible."

'Communities not safe without letter carriers'

Communities will not be as safe, without letter carriers walking the streets, said Dave Bleakney, who is on the national executive of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

"They do far more than deliver the mail," said Bleakney. "They've returned stray children. They have phoned first responders about fires. They have identified seniors in distress and given them CPR or dug them out of a snowbank or called 911 to get an ambulance, and this happens frequently."

Sue Markham, a letter carrier, is also the local president of the postal union.

She said there's no financial reason to cut the service.

"The Conference Board of Canada did a report prior to them announcing the end of door-to-door, and in that report, they said that by 2020, we would be $1 billion in debt, because of the way Canada Post was going," said Markham. "So it's sort of like the sky is falling. What happened after that was we actually made profit."

Essex Conservative MP Jeff Watson was invited to the meeting, but sent a note saying he could not attend.