By Mark Schadenberg
It is not good news, but it was only a
matter of time.
I live in a newer neighbourhood and
must pick up my mail from a so-called super box about half a block
away.
Where I resided previously in a 30+ old
home, I received mail at the front door.
Canada Post has now added Woodstock to
its formal list of discontinued home delivery to ALL city households
– effective the autumn of 2015. That's more than 8,000 fewer
Canadian homes in Woodstock alone not receiving door-to-door mail
delivery.
A sad day indeed on the horizon.
Announcements have been previously made
about other local communities such as Tillsonburg.
Today, we congratulate more friends and
relatives than ever on their birthday, but it is done via Facebook or
perhaps LinkedIn or another social media vehicle. We send emails with
songs attached to the greeting. I do it as well as often an
anniversary recognition for friends includes a link to a famous
Flintstones bit (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf8ZAMRO1DU).
While I don't buy a lot on the
internet, I do like receiving flyers from major local retailers via
email. My current winter boots were bought by visiting a physical
store, but the coupon for an extra $40 off the sale price was sent to
me by email – not in a newspaper or a hand-delivered post card.
Canada Post will complain about huge
losses as Canadians pay their bills on the internet and have
gradually moved away from buying stamps and mailing. It's an
institution that quite frankly dates back to the stagecoach era, and
should have been continued as mail carriers are technically employees
of the federal government. Important services are always subsidized,
including a local list such as transit, libraries and swimming pools.
As for the mail, when I lived in
Huntsville 25 years ago (yes, I am indeed getting old), I was
required to pick up mail at the post office. It was in a convenient
location though at one of the town's main intersections, across from
my bank and a few doors away from the CFBK radio studio.
Our society has seen many conveniences
– products and services – unfortunately fade away. In Woodstock,
home delivery of milk is still possible though thanks to Lies
VanBergen (Call her today at 519 539-7706) and her Blue Cow company.
Other reports about the mail demise
indicate that more than 1 billion fewer pieces of mail are to be
distributed in 2014 versus 2007 stats. There is a chart included
here.
Canada Post has been losing money for
several years, but is gaining dollars in other revenue streams. You
could say their service is becoming extinct like cassette tapes.
One announcement made in recent years
is that some neighbourhoods would receive mail delivery just three or
four days per week instead of five – Monday to Friday. The
diminishing service had unfortunately already began.
Apparently, according to the postal
service anyway, no jobs will be lost. If that's true, the flip side
continues by saying no more new jobs will be created as current
letter carriers retire or have their jobs shifted to another
capacity.
Adding neighbourhood post offices in a
convenience store occurred several years ago. In Tillsonburg, for
example, there's a post office inside a Canadian Tire store.
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Woodstock Sentinel-Review story:
In
a press release from Canada Post, the corporation notes that no
regular full-time or part-time employees will lose their job as a
result of the change, as it will reduce its workforce largely through
attrition as people leave the company.
()()()()()()()()()
A
Global TV News story from earlier this year:
Thankfully,
with an average age of 48 among its workforce, the service said it
expects 15,000 workers to retire over the next five years meaning no
layoffs are immediately required.
In
a dramatic but necessary move, Canada Post is completely withdrawing
from home mail delivery by 2019. That will affect about one third of
Canadian households which continue to receive mail delivery to their
doorsteps.
Canada
Post’s parcel delivery business is its fastest growing division and
has helped offset losses taken from the decline of its traditional
mail business in recent years. As e-commerce shopping continues to
grow, door delivery of packages will too and Canada Post aims to
compete indefinitely in that business.
()()()()()()()()()
In some capacities, Canada Post is
competing with commercial parcel delivery services as E-commerce
increases – buying consumer items over the internet (Amazon, etc) and not from a
store.
With the cost of gas, I could see rural
delivery fade into the sunset, but for urban dwellers it's a
disappointing day to see the letter carrier disappear.
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