By Wendy Goldsmith
Words I remember as a child as I learned that (in the old days), the “letter carrier always comes”. Well over the past three weeks, I learned that letter carriers and other postal workers are true to their word. Together, concerned community members and postal workers in London Ontario have been going door-to-door, asking concerned residents how they feel about the possibility of losing home mail service. The response has been heartwarming on cold winter days, but not that surprising: Residents want to keep and extend door-to-door mail delivery in our community.
For the last three snowy weekends in a row, we have been canvassing London neighbourhoods that have been slated to receive Super Mailboxes, also known as Community Mail Boxes, or ‘CMB’s, but don’t let the word ‘community’ fool you. These super boxes have nothing to do with community and everything to do with privatization and the elimination of good paying local jobs. “Conservative Mail Boondoggle” would be a more fitting acronym.
The response from the community has been overwhelmingly positive in favour of maintaining door-to-door postal delivery service and we are bringing this strong message to our municipality. We will insist that our elected council supports our decision to fight back against Harper’s government’s huge download of costs associated with this unilateral move. Municipal budgets are already strained and cannot be expected to bear the additional costs generated by CMBs imposed in our communities.
This is a fight we can win, together. Many proposals exist to expand home mail delivery which will enhance this publicly owned service. We have seen how community and unions together can unite and galvanize support. We have seen retired workers and other seniors jump in to help without a second thought. We are discovering new allies as our campaign grows. In a democracy, we all deserve to be consulted in meaningful ways. This is a fight that pulls us together in a single struggle. This is a fight that reminds us of why it’s important that we keep knocking on each others’ doors: to borrow sugar, to check on an elder neighbour, to chat about community issues, and to deliver the mail. Please add your voice to ours!
You can contact Londoners for Door to Door at people4door2door@gmail.
Keep Fighting !! and let me know how it goes. Home e-mail jeffreybayne@shaw.ca