By Ashley Wiebe

Possible return of door-to-door mail delivery draws mixed reaction

Dec 15, 2016 | 9:37 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — A House of Commons committee recommendation regarding door-to-door mail delivery has garnered a mixed reaction in the city.
This week, a House of Commons committee recommended Canada Post come up with a plan to reinstate door-to-door delivery. The report only recommends the changes be made, and it is up to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to decide if the changes will be made.
During the 2015 Federal Election,  Trudeau pledged to save home mail delivery while Canada Post was switching many communities, including Medicine Hat, to a community mailbox system.
Kendra Mastel, a letter carrier and president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers Local 776, says there are pros and cons to making the switch back to home delivery.
“There’s quite a few people I think now that have become accustomed to it,” she said while working on Tuesday. “However, we do have a lot of people who have a hard time getting down here.”
But it’s not just seniors and people living with a disability who want home delivery.
David Condon worked for the Crown corporation for 34 years and was part of the Save Canada Post campaign. He said bringing door-to-door brings back that human connection to our neighbourhoods.
“We just don’t see the letter carrier in the neighbourhood which a lot of people really quite enjoy,” he said. “And I know when I was a letter carrier, people in the neighbourhood enjoyed having that personal contact.”
He’s not alone.
“I loved having the postman come to the door,” said one woman. “That’s all I can say. I miss it and I think it would be wonderful if we could get it back.”
But others disagree.
“Because it’s so close, like, I don’t have to walk very far to get my mail,” said her neighbourhood, across the street. “Or if I’m driving, I just quickly stop, so it’s really no inconvenience to me.”
Some say if it creates more jobs, why not go back to the way it was.
“It would certainly provide much needed jobs in this city for sure,” Mastel said.
“Jobs have been cut here since the door-to-door delivery went away,” Condon said. “These are good paying jobs. People spend their money in the community and this community, as well as lots of others, especially in Alberta, can use good paying jobs.”