Mayor George Fontaine wants to preserve home mail delivery in Flin Flon, but no one is banging down his door to fight for the service.
Speaking at last week’s city council meeting, Fontaine said he is personally opposed to Canada Post’s plan to end home delivery across Canada within five years.
“I’m disappointed . . . in the fact that they’re going to make a move like this,” he said, “not because it’s going to be impossible for the country to get along (without it) – and I understand they’re going to save money – (but) there’s the consequences to a community of losing half a dozen jobs, (which) potentially means losing half a dozen families. That bothers me.
“The consequences are more felt in a smaller community like this when you lose groups of people, so it makes a difference. The safety angle (of) the vulnerable and the old (no longer getting mail at home), I have some concerns about that (as well).”
But Fontaine, who days earlier urged residents opposed to the plan to contact council, Canada Post, and their MP, had not heard a peep on the issue.
Asked whether council would write Canada Post to speak out against the plan, Fontaine said they had not had a chance to discuss the matter.
“I have no problem writing the letter, and I actually strongly feel that it has an effect on us,” he added. “But I understand the budgetary constraints, as well, that the post office is under. So will (a letter from council) have any affect? I’m not sure, but it doesn’t hurt for us to write the letter and point out that it does make a difference in a community this size.”
Coun. Bill Hanson opined that Canada Post is “really slicing their own throat” by ending home delivery in favour of neighbourhood mailboxes.
“When they say, ‘Okay, now you’re going to have to go to the corner to get your mail,’ most people are going to say, ‘I’m not dealing with anybody that’s not going to send me my bill in an e-mail,’” said Coun. Hanson.
“Am I going to go want to check a box down on the corner? No. If you can’t send me my bills in an e-mail, I’m not interested.”
Canada Post currently employs 10 letter carriers – eight full-time and two part-time – in Flin Flon. It’s not clear how many positions will be lost under the plan, as staff will still be required to provide other postal services.
Fight move
Churchill MP Niki Ashton is wasting no time opposing the Canada Post plan, saying she will be fighting the decision in the New Year.
“There’s no question that Flin Flon will be hit hard in terms of both the services on site and the proposed elimination of door-to-door delivery,” Ashton said during a visit to Flin Flon last week. “It’s unacceptable. I mean, we know that door-to-door delivery is essential for seniors, people with mobility issues, and in a community like Flin Flon . . . where you have people that need this service, that’s a real issue.
“And ultimately at the end of the day, Flin Flon is a community that has supported the postal service – the post office here received an award a couple of years ago for its high volume of traffic, of business – and it’s a community that deserves to be heard about how important these services are.
“And I think that this is unfortunately an example of how the federal government is discounting the importance of services, like the postal service, that (are) paid for by Canadians. So for me this is also a symbolic fight.”
But many Canadians question the necessity of home mail delivery in an era where many people receive little more than junk mail and a few bills.
Residents of The Pas are among the lion’s share of Canadians who receive no door-to-door delivery. For decades, seniors and disabled people in that community have managed without that service.
But Ashton said Canada Post is looking at cutting services “across the board” and suggested its latest plan may be part of a strategy to privatize the Crown corporation.
“Shocking” is the word she used to describe the fact that Canada will become the only G7 nation with no door-to-door mail delivery.
“Different communities have different histories around it, but to eliminate it from one community that needs it, and that has paid for it, is wrong,” added Ashton.
City council has already written to Steven Fletcher, then the federal minister responsible for Canada Post, to oppose plans for a secondary postal outlet in Flin Flon.
The privately run outlet will allow shift workers and other residents to pick up parcels and conduct postal business at night and on weekends.
But the local postal union claims the outlet would mean the end of counter service at the post office, an allegation Canada Post denies.
Council believed the union, but despite their objections, Canada Post is moving forward with the outlet. Details have yet to be announced.
Mayor George Fontaine and MP Niki Ashton (inset photos) both hope home mail delivery can be salvaged.
PHOTOS BY JONATHON NAYLOR
