Residents unhappy with rural mailbox move
Several dozen rural mailboxes in eastern P.E.I. will soon be removed and some residents in Beach Point are not happy about the decision.
Beach Point is one of the last communities to have their mailboxes evaluated as part of Canada Post's five-year safety survey across the Island.
The corporation plans to remove 58 boxes from the area before winter.
George McLeod and Marion Stewart are two residents who are losing their mail boxes.
"This is a bunch of stupidity as far as I'm concerned. It's a 50 kilometre zone, there's very little traffic. In my opinion it's got nothing to do with safety. There's something else behind it, whatever their strategy is, I don't know," McLeod said.
"We don't know how far it is, but it'll be a little harder no doubt. There's a lot of senior citizens down this street. In the winter it will be much worse," said Stewart.
When the individual rural mail boxes are gone people will have to pick up their mail at other locations such as at a community mailbox or the local post-office.
Canada Post assesses the safety of roads for letter carriers, and removes mailboxes it deems to be in an unsafe location.
The union representing the Canada Post employees says the traffic is minimal in the Beach Point area.
Eric Gauthier, the Atlantic regional CUPW president, says he's never had any complaints about safety from his members.
"We have no input. They don't ask us what's safe and what's not safe. I think it's got to do with a long-term goal with Canada Post to get all mailboxes off the side of the road, so they don't have to pay (Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers) as much money with the mail boxes gone," he said.
John Caines, manager of national media relations for Canada Post, says the issue is safety and not savings.
