Canada Post still not in Stoyles’ good books
By Mark Squibb | Vol 8 No. 3 (Feb 13. , 2019)
Mount Pearl councillor Lucy Stoyles makes no bones about her dislike of the ‘super mailboxes’— the banks of mailboxes you see around the city.
She raised her concerns during the January 16 meeting, and again during the February 4 meeting of council. One of Stoyles’ main concerns is that it is difficult to clear the mailboxes of ice and snow during winter months, meaning that people may not be able to access their mail in a timely or safe fashion.
“I just wanted to state again that I received at least 12 or 15 phone calls from people,” she noted. “There’s a gentleman on St. Andrew’s Avenue who haven’t had his mail since the storm,” she added.
The storm Stoyles referred to took place on January 17, with record-breaking snow piling up across the province.
“This gentleman is waiting for a cheque. And he don’t know if it’s in the super mailbox or not. And he’s had to borrow money off family,” said Stoyles. “The mailboxes were blocked in, and they opened them up one day, and he couldn’t get out. He’s an older gentleman. He’s contacted Canada Post a dozen times, he’s contacted Seamus O’Regan’s office, I’ve contacted Minister’s O’Regan on his behalf, and it goes on and on and on.”
Canada Post workers were to deliver cheques following the storm to ensure that no one had to go without their money, but Stoyles noted that it was an insurance claim, so was likely not flagged as a cheque by Canada Post.
Stoyles said that the mailboxes just are not a good fit for the province.
“It’s like I’ve said before, when you live in a climate like we live in in Newfoundland, especially for seniors trying to get their bit of mail, it’s unbelievable… it’s really disturbing to see. They got nowhere to put the snow, and besides that, they’re putting it out into the streets.”
She added that she pitied contractors hired to do the job.
Deputy Mayor Jim Locke asked if council had a record of which boxes had been cleared, as he was under the impression that of the 373 super mailboxes in the city, all but three to five had been cleared.
Director of Infrastructure and Public Works Gerry Antle noted that the City did not have a count as to how many had been cleared, or not cleared.
“Our issues have been, and continue to be, that once they are cleared, and some of the deficiencies associated with the clearing,” said Antle.
As the discussion was considered as business arising form the previous meting, there was no vote or decision made as to the super mailboxes.
“I’m going to keep on this,” promised Stoyles.
