The city is throwing its support behind door-to-door mail delivery.
During Monday night's meeting, city council voted unanimously to endorse a resolution heading to the Union of B.C. Municipalities' calling on the federal government and Canada Post to suspend the planned changes to home delivery until a thorough consultation process is complete.
Supporting the resolution, submitted by the city of Burnaby, is stronger than the city sending its own letter on the matter, said Coun. Murry Krause, who worked as a letter carrier in the 1970s.
"I think it's important to acknowledge that we realize very often we were the only people that some people had contact with every day. And it really was an opportunity make sure people were safe," he said. "Subsequent to that, when I was executive director of the United Way, we had a relationship with [the Canadian Union of Postal Workers] and it was a nationwide program where letter carriers were trained and engaged in the process whereby they would actively keep an eye on seniors and people with disabilities to make sure they were indeed safe."
Earlier in the night, council heard from CUPW local 812 president Tami Brushey and colleague Janet Watson about the potential effects the elimination of door-to-door delivery and the installation of more community mailboxes (CMBs) could have on the city.
"In the 1980s they started setting aside areas in cities to put up CMBs, so they actually planned for that. What this is going to do is go back into established neighbourhoods and put those into neighbourhoods where there was no plan," said Brushey. "So you're looking at traffic patterns, snow removal, vandalism, theft, lighting - you're looking at a whole range of issues that are going to be impacted."
Last December, Canada Post announced a multi-part plan than included phasing out of up to 8,000 jobs in urban home delivery service and increasing postage prices to save $900 million.
There is no timeline for when these cuts may hit Prince George, but Brushey said there are estimates that indicate up to 25 permanent jobs would be lost locally.
There are many unanswered questions for communities, added Watson.
"Who pays if lighting becomes necessary in areas where break ins are frequent? Where will CMBs be placed in established neighbourhoods and business areas? And can residents refuse to have a CMB installed on their property line? Who is liable if someone falls and is injured at a CMB site?" she asked.
Prior to announcing the changes, Canada Post only consulted directly with 46 communities, said Brushey, and those were by invitation only.
"I think the consultation we're talking about is important and I hope it's not too late to do something," said Coun. Brian Skakun. "And this is also about keeping some decent-paying jobs in our community as well."
The consultation process as it was doesn't work for Prince Goerge or other Canadian communities, agreed Coun. Frank Everitt.
"I think that in our community we certainly want to support door-to-door service," he said. "We know full well the price of postage is going up considerably and we know darn well that by stopping door to door, it's not going to go down."
The Union of B.C. Municipalities convention where the resolution will be considered will be held in Whistler in late September.
