HOW CANADA POST'S CUTBACKS WILL EFFECT POOR AND DISABLED CITIZENS

Canada Post announced that in January 2014 that they will phase out door-to-door mail delivery in five years. Postage rates rose significantly as well. Why is this happening? The crown corporation's generous benefits and consequent pension liability has grown so big that these drastic measures had to be taken.

While I understand the need for fiscal responsibility, I also recognize the hardship this will bring on vulnerable members of society. For example, elderly people will have to walk to their local "Community Mailboxes." This isn't much of a problem during fine weather but Canadian winters are brutal across most of the country. Folks who use walkers , canes, and other mobility aids will have great difficulty in just receiving their mail. Many seniors aren't "computer-literate" so they depend on paper mail deliveries of letters and magazines.

People who use wheelchairs and motorized scooters are in the same predicament. These mobility aids weren't meant to plow through snow and maneuver along icy sidewalks. Disabled citizens will have to either wait for an able-bodied friend to help or stay indoors until they can leave their homes safely.

Though blind people learn how to navigate streets and sidewalks, snow and ice pose dangers to them. As fog is to a sighted individual, so is snow to the blind. Ice is doubly perilous when a person can't see it. I foresee news items about disabled people being hurt because they simply ventured out to the community mailboxes.

Doubtless some folks will say that those neighbourhoods which already have community mail boxes haven't had any problems like the ones I've outlined. Though I don't have the statistics, I certainly believe that these sort of accidents will rapidly increase as door-to-door mail service is phased out.

Remember as well that it's the bloated pension liability that is the major cause of Canada Post's losses. E-mail has cut drastically into the corporation's bottom line but people still rely upon businesses and friends to ship them parcels. Additionally, the many postal strikes and postage hikes have caused businesses as well as individuals to switch to online bill payments. The union and management are both at fault for this situation.

My hope is that Canada Post doesn't shut down rural mail service. I depend on that for sending out paperbacks and promotional materials.

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