BradfordToday and InnisfilToday welcome letters to the editor at [email protected] or via the website. Please include your full name, daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). We received the following in response to 'LETTER: Reader feels like he was held hostage by Canada Post,' published Dec. 29.
I agree that Canada Post remains an essential service, particularly in rural areas and remote communities. To remain financially viable, however, it must either adjust its level of service to meet modern needs or receive government subsidies. The needed changes are easy to identify.
End door-to-door delivery. It is ludicrous that legacy areas receive it and newer ones don’t. For some dense urban areas, community mailboxes may not work well but there are alternatives like convenience stores.
Redesign rural delivery. In many areas, people receive rural delivery but the population density is similar to subdivisions. These places should be using community mailboxes or a central postal facility. Eliminate dedicated post offices where services can be provided through a store-front operation at lower cost.
And, of course, end daily mail service — three times a week is more than enough to meet most requirements.
If those changes are implemented, it’s possible that Canada Post could become self-sufficient. If that doesn’t hold true, I would support government subsidies
to meet basic essential requirements. I do not support subsidies to meet outdated entitlements, respond to personal preferences, or maintain obsolete jobs. Nor do I support indirect subsidies such as offering non-postal services that simply compete with private enterprise.
Darryl Lynch
Innisfil