Winnipeggers voice concerns about mail delivery changes at forum

Winnipeg residents who will be the first to lose door-to-door mail delivery raised concerns and questions, such as where their new community mailboxes will be stationed, at a public meeting Wednesday night.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers hosted a town hall meeting to hear what people think of Canada Post's plan to replace home delivery with community mailboxes.

Roughly 200 people attended Wednesday's meeting at Maples Collegiate.

"About 70 per cent of Winnipeggers continue to get door-to-door delivery at this point, so it would be a very large proportion of Winnipeggers who would be losing this service," said Ben Zorn, CUPW's local president in Winnipeg.

Two areas in northwest Winnipeg, with postal codes starting with R2P and R2V, will be among the first in the country to make this switch this fall.

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"I like door-to-door because we get our mail each day, and I'm concerned about some of the elder people that live in our community," said Bill Hinther, who lives in the Garden City neighbourhood and will be among the first to lose door-to-door delivery.

Many residents in Garden City say they have many questions about where the community mailboxes would go.

"In this block, it'd be pretty hard. You'd have to pretty well have it central," said Nadya Hudyma, who lives on Sinclair Street, said earlier Wednesday.

Mario and Fernanda Santos said they wonder how far they may have to walk to collect their mail, especially when sidewalks tend to be icy in the winter.

"It's so scary in the winter time to walk in the sidewalk. It's very icy," said Fernanda Santos.

Coun. Ross Eadie said along with icy sidewalks, he's concerned the City of Winnipeg could be on the hook for costs of cleaning up litter and removing extra snow around the new mailboxes.

"We have to store the snow in the boulevards. They put these in mid-block; we're going to be a problem there," he said. "Who's responsibility is it to remove the windrows and the snow?"

Canada Post recently conducted a survey to see which respondents would prefer a short walk to get their mail, and who wouldn't mind walking a longer distance.

A Canada Post spokesperson told CBC News it could be weeks before a final decision is made.

Among the factors being considered in determining where the mailboxes should go are safety and lighting.