Kamloops CUPW rep ‘disappointed’ door-to-door delivery won’t be restored

Jan 24, 2018 | 9:26 AM

KAMLOOPS — Reaction in Kamloops this morning (Wednesday) to the federal government’s announcement it will end community mailbox conversions but won’t restore door-to-door service for the roughly 840,000 families that have already been converted.

“We’re disappointed. We were really hoping he (Prime Minister Justin Trudeau) was going to keep his word and put everybody that had been converted a couple years back into door-to-door,” said Patricia Nauss, First Vice-President of Canadian Union Postal Workers Local 758 in Kamloops. “So, we’re happy it’s not going to go any further but we also would have liked everybody who was converted put back to door-to-door.”

She added the decision likely won’t have much impact in Kamloops because of the campaign to save door-to-door a few years back with the help of the City of Kamloops.

“Well, Kamloops was lucky that we were able to stop the conversion from door-to-door so that’s not going to change. We’re good for now but it’s never 100 per cent. Things can change rapidly with government.”

Nauss said she doesn’t buy the argument that by not completing the conversion to community mailboxes it will cost the government $350 million annually.

“I think it’s ridiculous. They’ve been in the black for the longest time. They only lost a little bit of money in the lockout when they locked us out. But other than that, they’re making money.”

In today’s announcement, Public Services Minister Carla Qualtrough said a task force will also be formed to examine how to enhance Canada Post’s accessibilty program for seniors and people with mobility issues and have lost home delivery.

The issue of restoring door-to-door home mail delivery has been a hot one the past few years because during the 2015 federal election the Liberal Party made a vague promise to “save home mail delivery” after the previous Conservative government pledged to scrap it.