This time next year, barring any unforeseen developments, Yorkton will no longer have door-to-door mail delivery.
Canada Post announced last week that Yorkton, Prince Albert and Moose Jaw will be the first communities in Saskatchewan to lose the service.
The discontinuation affects 5,262 addresses in the city. Home delivery will be replaced by
Canada Post said in a press release that affected residents will receive an information package that includes a mail-in survey within a few days. Anick Losier, a Canada Post spokesperson said where they have already done conversions surveys have been a great help. In Montreal, she said, feedback led to 50 per cent of the original proposal being changed.
"People are very engaged," Losier said.
Gloria Spilak. President of the Yorkton local of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), said she was surprised by the announcement.
"We didn't think it would come this quick to Yorkton," she said.
Losier said the basic criteria for choosing initial communities was targeting areas where community mailboxes are already in use and where there are planned retirements since the corporation promised not to lay off any employees when it launched its Five-Point Plan last December.
There is still plenty of opposition to phasing out door-to-door delivery. In addition to CUPW's ongoing grassroots campaign, the union has launched a legal challenge based on human rights.
"It is impacting the cities, especially the elderly and people with mobility issues," Spilak said.
And the union will continue to lobby local governments to pass resolutions opposing the change. Some 70 had done so by June of this year.
"We're hoping Yorkton comes on board," she said.
And, she added, it is not just about individuals not losing their jobs, it is also about the city losing well-paying jobs.
"The mayor should look at that too," she said.
But Mayor Bob Maloney and City Council are not interested in taking up that fight.
"This is a decision not taken by the City, it is a decision taken by Canada Post," he said. "We will press Canada Post to make sure we have good service for our residents, but it's their business and this is what they have decided."
The corporation has already consulted with the City on placement of the boxes, a process that will dovetail with the residence surveys, Losier said.
"We'll be working very closely with them," Maloney said.
Meanwhile, the union will fight on until the very end. Next up in the local campaign is a town hall meeting at St. Gerard's November 27.
"We're hoping the public will come out and voice their concern," Spilak said. "We need the public to say no to Canada Post."
