Seniors’ group wants halt on community mailbox conversion made permanent

Posted on by CARP

Click here to read ‘Seniors’ group wants halt on community mailbox conversion made permanent’ by Morgan Smith retrieved from an interview segment featuring Susan Eng, Executive VP at CARP on Edmonton Breaking News, Traffic Weather and Sports Radio Station aired and published on October 27, 2015 –  published by 630 CHED.com and iNews880

Canada Post says it’s temporarily halting conversion to community mailboxes until it sits down with the new Liberal Government. But a seniors’ advocacy group want to know why it can’t scrap the change permanently.

Susan Eng (ING) is with the Canadian Association of Retired Persons. She says it’s true many seniors are concerned about getting to the new boxes, her group is also troubled by the way the post office unveiled its plan.

 “That kind of high-handedness, unilateral action, no community consultation…” she says, “I think that was as much the problem as the actual changing-over itself.”

Eng says with Canada’s population aging, making it harder for seniors to get their mail doesn’t make sense; especially with more and more businesses like pharmacies and grocery stores moving to home delivery.

Eng says if it’s all about saving money, the Association would probably be okay with receiving mail only two days a week, but she doubts the companies who pay to get our their business mail wouldn’t likely go for it.

However, the swiftness with which Canada Post reversed course has Eng and her Association questioning the whole transition.

“The fact that it just happened, sort of just like that,” she says, “suggests to me that there was never any good reason to have done it in the first place.” (ms, News Talk 770)