Canada Post workers in St-Eustache have a special delivery message for Canada’s government: keep your hands off home delivery.
On Saturday, Canadian Union of Postal Employees representatives and NDP MP Laurin Liu organized a rally in the North Shore Montreal city.
They then went door-to-door in the community with postcards denouncing the cuts that residents were asked to fill out.
“We’re doing what we do best, and that’s delivering a message to homeowners in the area,” said Alain Duguay, President of CUPE’s Montreal local.
“We’re not going to wait until St-Eustache loses its home delivery, we’re going to show the community that we support it,” he said.
Five Montreal suburbs will be among the first 11 regions in Canada to have home delivery ended as part of cuts announced by Canada Post last year.
The north-end suburbs of Rosemere, Lorraine, Bois-des-Filion, Repentigny and Charlemagne are set to lose their home delivery service this fall.
Residents will have to get their mail from community mailboxes like those now used in many rural municipalities.
Liu said she’s received 1,500 letters from constituents of her Rivière-des-Milles-Îles riding who are concerned with Canada Post’s decision to cut home delivery and raise postal rates.
Many fear the move to community mailboxes will adversely affect the elderly and Canadians with mobility concerns.
"People are voicing concern about how the cuts will affect their parents, their grandparents. These cuts will affect their daily life," she said.