Like it or not, changes to mail delivery are here
Editorial

As the song goes, "Don't it always seem to go, That you don't know what you've got, Till it's gone."

Could that statement be made about rural mail delivery, as it has been known by so many for so many years?

It seems the situation has changed a great deal, for reasons that are complex and varied. But it seems to be the case that a saying many of us heard over the years, namely "through rain or sleet or dark of night, the mail must get through," does not carry the weight that it used to.

Pity, but also reality.

There have been major changes over the last couple of years to the way people in rural areas of this country receive their mail. True, there have been efforts from the likes of Oak Ridges - Markham MP Lui Temelkovski to have the status quo preserved as much as possible, but we see the reality that a lot of these changes are permanent.

The people who used to deliver mail along rural routes according to independent contracts have been gone since the start of 2004. These people have since been taken on as employees of Canada Post.

And in the days since then, there have been concerns raised about the safety of these people as they deliver the mail. Granted, it might be easy to dismiss some of these concerns as being a little trivial. The pain from wear and tear on the arm muscles from having to reach from the driver's seat to the rural mail box may be easy to poohpooh. But the traffic on rural roads in not what it once was. The people delivering mail on these routes have to pull to the side of the road on routes that are much more traveled these days, with farm vehicles, heavy trucks, commuters and other people who rightly realize that they too have the right to make use of public roads. The speeds at which these vehicles travel is somewhat faster than they used to be too. And once the letters are in the box, these carriers have to merge their vehicles back into traffic. Anyone who has driven a rural road in these parts recently knows that task is sometimes easier said than done.

So yes, there is a safety issue, and Canada Post is obliged to act upon it, and do the very best it can to make sure its employees are protected from hazards. Another reality is one fatality or one unnecessary injury is too many. The fact it's a Crown corporation does not reduce it's obligation to the people it employs. Any employer who sat back and failed to act when his or her staff was at risk would face a healthy dose of public scorn, in all probability whipped up by any and all media outlets. There would be very few grumblers. And we can add to that the definite likelihood of some form of prosecution or other legal action.

In such a regard, Canada Post is no different from any other employer in the land.

But the Crown corporation also has an obligation to its clients, for without its clients, its employees have no jobs.

If delivery of mail to private boxes is no longer feasible or practical, then so be it. But the safety and convenience of people collecting their mail must be given a certain amount of attention.

A delegation from Canada Post recently addressed councillors in a nearby municipality, stressing they would like to maintain the current system of rural deliveries as much as possible, and would be ready to suggest and accommodate minor changes if that could help bring things about. For example, they said they would be able to entertain moving awkwardly placed private boxes to safer and more convenient locations, or having a couple of neighbours cluster their boxes close to each other. But it also appears to be clear that the notion of community boxes has to be taken seriously, meaning people might have to travel some distance from home to get their mail.

Canada Post has an obligation to make sure this can be accomplished in complete safety.

Locations of these boxes must be safe, well off the traveled road, well lit (not everyone is in a position to make trips to get their mail in daylight), with snow cleared, etc.

Do we call for too much? Maybe.

But is it not also a fact that many people don't rely on the postal service the way they used to? Fax machines, e-mails, courier services and easier access to long-distance telephones have cut into what was once a cornering of the market.

Canada Post still has a place in out national fabric, but it must prove itself worthy of it's place.

Like the song indicated, we don't know what we've got, till it's gone.

But what if in the end, we really didn't miss it?