Door-to-door mail service is about to go the way of the dodo bird, and along with it a sense of safety and security.
Canada Post has said it can't afford to deliver door-to-door anymore and needs to come up with an alternative model for snail mail. The problem is, no one has a lot of confidence in the new system.
Sure, it was only a matter of time before the Crown corporation made this move because it currently has a two-tier system, with some single-family homes getting door-to-door service while people in newer neighbourhoods or apartments and condos already have to pick up their mail at a central location.
Unfortunately, despite efforts to strengthen the newer community mailboxes, mail is still being stolen and recent headlines in The Tri-City News bear this out.
In February, there were reports of mail theft from both old and new community mail boxes, with thefts and damage complaints coming from communities in central Coquitlam, Burke Mountain and even in Belcarra.
Then in March, police busted a Langley home and found 15,000 pieces of stolen mail as well another 9,000 pieces in a storage locker. Also last month, in Citadel Heights in Port Coquitlam, Mounties found 721 pieces of stolen mail as well as equipment for creating identity cards and credit cards and guns.
These issues only confirm what many suspect: No matter how strongly-built the new community mail boxes are, they will continue to be a target in what has become a lucrative and increasingly sophisticated identity theft industry.
Canada Post has promised to consult widely before it fully rolls out community mail boxes in the Tri-Cities and it's not yet known when door-to-door delivery is supposed to end here. The changeover is a five-year process and we can expect to hear as early as this December when it will be our turn.
We don't want to wait for the inevitable to happen. Canada Post must tell Canadians what it plans to do to ensure mail service is protected.
