Canada Post’s decision to phase out doorstep mail delivery and replace it with community mailboxes is a sign of political courage, Public Works Minister Joel Lightbound told MPs, insisting the changes are long overdue.“These changes were warranted in many instances,” Lightbound said at the Commons government operations committee. “I am glad I am part of a government willing to make difficult decisions and move forward with the changes we’ve announced.”Lightbound said Canadians understand the need for the transformation. “Reasonable Canadians looking at the financial situation of Canada Post realize it is not too much to ask to get their mail at a community mailbox,” he said. Blacklock's Reporter said he noted that 77% of Canadians already receive mail through community boxes, rural mailboxes, or in apartment buildings..Some MPs, however, expressed concern about the impact on seniors and people with mobility challenges. Liberal MP Vince Gasparro (Eglinton-Lawrence, Ont.) said his constituents were uneasy with the shift. Conservative MP Tamara Jansen (Cloverdale-Langley City, B.C.) questioned why the government acted on a 2013 Canada Post Action Plan only now, after a decade of inaction.The post office reported a pre-tax loss of $841 million last year, and Lightbound has repeatedly warned the service is losing $10 million a day, a figure he attributes in part to ongoing labour unrest. Conservative MP Kelly Block (Carleton Trail-Eagle Creek, Sask.) challenged the claim, noting it conflicts with the reported $1.5 billion operating loss, or roughly $4.1 million per day, but Lightbound insisted daily losses are higher under current conditions..Lightbound defended the plan despite questions about job losses, saying Canada Post must “right-size itself” to reflect the decline in letter mail volumes. Canada Post employs 62,300 people, operates the nation’s largest truck fleet of 15,300 vehicles, and maintains 5,700 post offices, making it one of the country’s largest service networks.The move follows Lightbound’s September 25 announcement lifting a 1994 moratorium on rural post office closures and repealing the guarantee of daily mail delivery, decisions that triggered a rotating strike by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.
