A Canada Post employee delivers mail in Ottawa December 11, 2013. Canada's postal service will phase out urban home delivery within five years and hike the cost of postage stamps to try to stem soaring losses, the post office said on Wednesday. REUTE
IN PHOTO: A Canada Post employee delivers mail in Ottawa December 11, 2013. Canada's postal service will phase out urban home delivery within five years and hike the cost of postage stamps to try to stem soaring losses, the post office said on Wednesday. Reuters/Chris Wattie

The decision of Canada Post to end door-to- door service and replace it with community mail boxes has created more issues. There is frustration among the public. In Montreal city, a civic committee has urged the city council to say 'No' to the community mailboxes from Canada Post.

The committee comprising of eminent citizens, mayors and councillors urged Montreal city council to join the ongoing legal challenge in Federal Court, seeking to strike down Canada Post’s plans for installing community mailboxes. “We’re taking a hard line,” Sud-Ouest borough Mayor Benoit Dorais, chairman of the commission said. According to him, a total of 700,000 houses on Montreal Island would be affected by the mail box plan, reports Montreal Gazette.

Lack of Transparency

Dorais noted that Canada Post has already set up community mailboxes in Kirkland, Lachine, Pierrefonds and Île-Bizard and has informed more boroughs about future mailboxes. CBC. Ca reports that the committee flayed Canada Post for unilaterally rushing the plan to replace home-delivery service and overlooking the views of municipalities and residents.

"The lack of transparency, the lack of public consultation and quite frankly, just the arrogance in moving forward with something when they clearly know that there are problems," committee member and Verdun city councillor Sterling Downey said.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre also expressed his objection to Canada Post's plan. He told CBC News that "I have a committee on that with Benoit Dorais, the mayor of Southwest and the mayor of Montreal-East who’s there. I’m totally on the side of Westmount mayor Peter Trent."

Break-ins Up

In many places, the community mail boxes have introduced the problem of break ins. In Surrey, B.C, there was a spurt in incidents of community mailbox break-ins. Apparently, thieves figured out ways to break into the high-security "superboxes," putting the residents' mail at risk, reports BNN. Ca.

Surrey resident Julie Parker is bitter that her community mailbox was broken three times since autumn. She called it terrifying, especially for the older people, in the community.

Parker is now planning to buy a separate, private mailbox so that her personal information will not be stolen. Tim Armstrong, of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers also confirmed the rising number of community mailbox break-ins in the B.C. area.

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