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Ottawa Citizen

Deachman: Once, Canada Post was vital. Now people tell me it's irrelevant

Article content According to Google Maps, it takes 19 days to walk from Winnipeg to Ottawa. One wonders if that is how the letter actually made it to this city. Article content Article content Perhaps it's not a surprise, then, that the 79-year-old Bateman says the ongoing labour strife between the Crown corporation and its workers won't affect her: 'Not one bit.' Canada Post, she says, is simply not important to her anymore. Article content Article content Tha's the problem the post office faces as management and the union CUPW grapple over a new contract for 55,000 employees. The jousting has been going on since November, 2023, and led to a 32-day strike over the 2024 Christmas period. Article content Article content 'I don't get much mail beyond flyers, and I only check my mailbox about once a week. I use my computer for a lot of my interactions,' said Bateman. 'I don't send cards; I send Happy Birthday emails. I don't send letters to friends; I just call or FaceTime them.' Article content Bateman's experience isn't universal, but judging from the quick straw poll I conducted outside the the Canada Post outlet at Fairlawn Mall on Friday, it's an increasingly common one. Reliance on the post office is following the path of the dodo. Article content Remember how upset we got when Canada Post announced in 2013 that it intended to drop home delivery in many areas in favour of community mailboxes? Nowadays, some residents are suggesting that home delivery be almost abandoned altogether. Article content Article content 'The federal government should still have a hand in this — every country in the world has a postal service — but they could cut it down to once-a-week delivery,' said Blake McIntyre, a Gatineau resident who noted he only receives about two letters a month in the mail, mostly from government departments. If he were slightly more advanced with his computer equipment, he could get that number even lower. Article content McIntyre's not in favour of full-on privatization of the post office, but said there might be a solution that leans in that direction. 'Maybe the government could contract it out but still be in control of it. But the federal government can't walk away from it, not yet.' Article content Article content He's doubtful, though, that the corporation's stated wish to use more part-time employees at the cost of full-time ones will ever happen. 'You think those full-time union guys are going to walk back and let the part-timers take over? I don't think so.'