I got my survey in the mail the other day and found it heartwarming that a big, impersonal entity like Canada Post wondered what I, otherwise known as Mail Recipient, thought of the pending switch to community mailboxes in Ladner. OK, so I really wasn't that touched by what's little more than a public relations exercise, but on the bright side, at least I wasn't disappointed.
The first of 14 questions in the survey informs us that 10 million Canadian homes already receive their mail through some form of centralized delivery. If that's the case, then shouldn't Canada Post already have a pretty darn good idea of what works, and what doesn't, when it comes to community mailboxes? Do they really require our input?
Whether they need it, or will ultimately heed it, is certainly up for debate, but that hasn't stopped Canada Post from asking our opinions on a host of issues - everything from security and accessibility to personal safety and maintenance - associated with community boxes.
Maybe it's just me, but I would hope the postal service would ensure all these points are addressed to the greatest extent possible at every single community mailbox.
We shouldn't have to tell Canada Post to make each installation safe, accessible and secure; those types of issues should be on some sort of checklist for every site.
It seems to me the only real question left at this point is where to put the community boxes in each neighbourhood and I suspect the answer to that one will have more to do with the availability of suitable locations than resident input. Although the survey asks whether people would prefer smaller boxes closer to their homes or larger ones in central locations, the information we got from a spokesperson is that Canada Post would be working with the Corporation of Delta to find suitable public sites when rolling out community boxes in Ladner next year.
If the postal service isn't going to lease slices of private property to house the smaller boxes, then it's a good bet we'll be getting larger boxes in central sites, meaning the location questions on the survey could well be moot too.
What we do know is that community mailboxes have been in use for the last 30 years and that millions of Canadian households have come to rely on them. In other words, Canada Post already knows the best ways to implement the service, but if you don't like what eventually unfolds in Ladner, remember, you can't say you weren't consulted.
