Thank you, honourable members, for inviting us, and for the opportunity to present before you on the topic of Canada Post.
Seniors Action Quebec is a non-profit provincial organization working in partnership on behalf of English-speaking Quebec seniors. There are one million English-speaking individuals living in Quebec. Of these, just a little under 300,000 are 55 years of age and over. They represent 25.4% of Quebec's minority language group.
The greatest concentration of seniors is located in the Montreal and the Montérégie region: a combined total of 196 seniors aged 55-plus. The English-speaking communities of the Estrie and Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine region have the largest proportion of seniors, at 37% and 36.5% respectively, indicating that one in three English-speaking persons is in a rural community in Quebec.
Over the past 10 years, there have been many focus groups and conferences to find out the needs and priorities of seniors. Recently, we concluded a one-year Canadian Heritage project titled “Building Community Capacity—From Evidence to Action”. The goal was to identify and establish priorities among critical needs and issues affecting seniors' quality of life. We had five partner organizations covering the Outaouais, the total Gaspésie, the North Shore, Sept-Îles, Baie-Comeau, and Quebec City. The aim of the project was to consult with seniors in the regions, asking them to identify priorities for their communities. We successfully carried out 17 focus groups throughout Quebec.
During these focus groups, seniors expressed concerns regarding access to their mail delivery. Concerns that came out were: difficulty in accessing the community boxes; weather conditions limiting the ability to leave home; insufficient removal of snow and ice at the boxes; and inability due to illness, post-surgery recovery, or limited mobility, and cardiovascular or other respiratory conditions.
We request that the government not permit any new cuts to mail delivery, especially in the rural and remote regions of the country. Lack of transportation to the boxes, especially in small communities where boxes are located in the centre of town, requires the individuals to drive to pick up their mail. Without access to vehicles, they will rely on family and neighbours.
English-speaking seniors are more vulnerable, as their adult children have left their hometown or, in many cases, the province, leaving their parents to rely on friends as their support network.
In the case of seniors affected by the early onset of dementia or Alzheimer's disease, they may not be able to make a request for service at home. The implications are that their bills remain unpaid and important appointments are missed, etc.
What has the government done and what will it do to address these similar needs?
In the past when mail was delivered to your home, it provided a means of knowing the habits of an individual, as Canada Post employees and the recipient generally developed a good relationship. If something was abnormal, the Canada Post employee could flag the issue. Without this hands-on service, seniors have expressed the concern that there is a level of security missing.
We understand that the current government has halted the replacement of home delivery with communal boxes. We applaud this decision.
It is our understanding that the government has a mechanism for individuals who require mail delivery directly to their home due to illness or mobility issues. We feel that this is extremely helpful and encourage the government to implement the necessary publicity to ensure individuals are aware of the existence of this service and the process.
Hopefully, in regard to receiving this service, you have taken into account the fact that not all seniors have access to a computer or have poor Internet connections—some have dial-up—and therefore we hope the process to request this service is fast, simple, and user-friendly, with perhaps simply a phone call. We urge the government to ensure adequate resources to handle the demand for this service, with a recognition of the needs in our culturally diverse communities.
If these items are taken into account, it will go a long way to alleviate several of the concerns expressed by seniors and those who fall into these specific circumstances. We are encouraged by the government's process of consultation to address this issue.
Thank you.