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National Post

'Not good': Concerns revived over recommendation to end door-to-door mail delivery

Article content Canada Post began phasing out door-to-door delivery in 2014, which resulted in about 830,000 households being converted to community boxes. The move was unpopular in many neighbourhoods, where residents complained about losing accessibility and convenience. Some also took issue with damage and litter around the boxes. Article content The federal Liberal government under former prime minister Justin Trudeau imposed a moratorium in 2015, preventing Canada Post from doing additional conversions. Article content Melissa Graham, executive director of the Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities in Winnipeg, said replacing door-to-door mail with community boxes created barriers. Article content '(Boxes) used to ice up. They used to be in areas that were difficult to get to, if you had a mobility disability,' Graham said. 'They often didn't have braille, so you could not find your mailbox easily.' Article content The report says Canada Post has a program to accommodate those with accessibility needs and that the program should be reviewed and enhanced if required. Article content It also recommends lifting a 1994 moratorium that prevents Canada Post from closing rural post offices. Article content The report doesn't provide a list of post offices that should close, but it points out some in suburban communities that were classified as rural no longer are. For example, post offices in the Ontario municipalities of Milton and Richmond Hill no longer fit the rural criteria, even though they were classified as such in 1994. Article content The post office in the Ottawa suburb of Stittsville was also classified as rural before it was amalgamated by the capital city. Article content Glen Gower, a city councillor for Stittsville, said the community was rural 25 years ago but has changed. It now has a second Canada Post outlet, he added. Article content Gower said replacing the original post office with affordable housing makes sense for what the community needs, if one post office could handle all its mail. Article content 'It is sitting on a huge piece of Crown land. But I do want to make sure postal services are maintained,' he said. 'I think (the original post office) is of less significance than it would have been 25 years ago.' Article content Article content The report says ending the moratoriums on rural post offices and community boxes could cause massive public opposition.