Evidence of meeting #35 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was mail.
8:20 p.m.
Liberal
Nick Whalen Liberal St. John's East, NL
If you don't have a mailbox on your house but you have it at the end of your driveway, do you still consider that to be door to door?
8:20 p.m.
Executive Director, Newfoundland and Labrador, Coalition of Persons with Disabilities
Yes. I consider door to door to be the mailbox on your home, the mailbox in your apartment building, and the mailbox at the end of your laneway. The problematic ones for us would be the community mailboxes and the mailboxes in your postal office.
8:20 p.m.
Liberal
Nick Whalen Liberal St. John's East, NL
What's the problem, precisely, with the mailboxes in the postal offices?
8:20 p.m.
Executive Director, Newfoundland and Labrador, Coalition of Persons with Disabilities
As I outlined earlier, I think access to the building is one piece. You need a key to access the building after hours.
The hope, of course, is that a community post office is accessible, but that's not always the case. When I think of my post office, for instance, in my community in Pouch Cove, it's not. The ramp is there, but it's rather steep, I would say. To get in there during off-hours is difficult, beyond just the ramp. The lighting in there is very dark. It's not a welcoming environment to be in if you have any kind of disability, whether you have low vision or anything that inhibits you from entering that space. It's more difficult, I would say, than even a community mailbox on the side of the road.
8:20 p.m.
Executive Director, Empower, The Disability Resource Centre
I would agree. First I would go with door to door, and I would include end-of-lane and apartment buildings as being part of door-to-door delivery. Community mailboxes would be a second choice for the exact same reasons.
8:20 p.m.
Liberal
Nick Whalen Liberal St. John's East, NL
Okay. That's interesting to hear.
In St. John's East and this area, the people you represent receive all the different types of service in oddly defined geographical regions. You can go a few streets over to Torbay and all of a sudden you're in Flatrock. Go a street over, and you're in Pouch Cove. Everyone has different services in those three communities.
Do you have any data from any of your members about slips and falls or assaults or physical harm to people that has arisen out of their attempts to use community mailboxes or attempts to access the postal service?
8:20 p.m.
Executive Director, Empower, The Disability Resource Centre
We do. It's more about a hindrance to them getting to their mailbox. They would try to avoid falling because it's icy or they couldn't get to their mailbox because of the snow. There were no injuries, but it was more about not being able to get to the mailbox because of a hindrance.
8:20 p.m.
Executive Director, Newfoundland and Labrador, Coalition of Persons with Disabilities
We don't have any data on that issue.
8:20 p.m.
Chair, St. John's-Avalon Chapter, Canadian Association of Retired Persons
I don't have data, but I would say that there is a reservation in going to collect your mail if the conditions that have been referenced are present. Your mail could be sitting there for a week or two, which is bad if you're dependent on mail delivery for your income.
8:20 p.m.
Liberal
Nick Whalen Liberal St. John's East, NL
That's fair enough.
Ms. Christy, I know that the Coalition for Persons with Disabilities Newfoundland and Labrador has focused a lot recently on accommodating people with disabilities in the workforce. You've publicized a 10% target for jobs for disabled people in the workforce. I'm not sure which of the groups within the Coalition for Persons with Disabilities has targets. I think Empower has talked about that as well.
I'm wondering if you could speak to me about your experience with Canada Post as an employer for people with disabilities, and if it has demonstrated itself to be a good employer and a sufficient employer of people with disabilities to provide them the same opportunities as other businesses are expected to provide.
8:25 p.m.
Executive Director, Empower, The Disability Resource Centre
That's a really good question, and I have to say that I haven't looked into it. We haven't heard from them. We haven't provided any kind of training. We provide etiquette training in regard to disability and disability awareness. We haven't done any with Canada Post. We haven't worked with them as a business or as an employer, but that's definitely something I'll look into.
8:25 p.m.
Executive Director, Newfoundland and Labrador, Coalition of Persons with Disabilities
We haven't done any inclusion training with Canada Post either. It's not on my radar since I've been with the coalition, so it's not something I'm aware of.
8:25 p.m.
Liberal
Nick Whalen Liberal St. John's East, NL
You don't have statistics on how many of your members are working in postal offices, or in the postal service, to achieve this 10% threshold you're hoping to achieve.
8:25 p.m.
Executive Director, Empower, The Disability Resource Centre
I know of none.
8:25 p.m.
Executive Director, Newfoundland and Labrador, Coalition of Persons with Disabilities
I'm not sure if that 10% is with inclusionNL or....
8:25 p.m.
Executive Director, Empower, The Disability Resource Centre
It's actually the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
8:25 p.m.
Liberal
Nick Whalen Liberal St. John's East, NL
It's the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Okay. I learned about it from your organization.
How much time do I have?
8:25 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tom Lukiwski
The time is up. Thank you very much.
We'll go to Mr. McCauley for seven minutes, please.
8:25 p.m.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
I used to live in Mr. Whalen's riding, and there are all types of mailboxes. It's interesting.
Ladies, thank you for joining us today. I appreciate your passion for helping others. It's quite amazing. All of you are very well-spoken. You made a lot of great points, and I appreciate that.
Canada Post, I understand, for areas with community mailboxes, will deliver mail once a week. They'll deliver to the box every day, and then on a designated day they pick up all that mail and bring it to the house. I've been told—and I have to look into it more—that they will do so once you fill out a form, but a doctor's note is not required, so there's no money involved in that.
Are all your organizations aware of that? They'll do it for seniors, disabled, and mobility challenged, as well.
8:25 p.m.
Executive Director, Empower, The Disability Resource Centre
We found out about it by accident when one of our consumers came and tried to put in an application to get the mail. That's how we have found out. It would have been beneficial if we'd known in advance so that we could have let our consumers know.
8:25 p.m.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
I agree. I don't want to say I found out about it by accident, but I was not aware either, even though I've been head of a seniors' foundation and a group of hospitals in Victoria.
What's the best way to get that communicated? Should that come from the municipality? I want to follow up because we've talked about consulting. It's impossible for everyone to track down every single group to consult and to ensure the best possible service. What's the best way to get that information to—I don't want to say to your various clients—the various people you're supporting? What's the best way to get feedback to Canada Post? Should it be through the municipality, or directly through a Canada Post ombudsman? We've heard of other suggestions. I'd like to hear the best way to get your organizations engaged.
8:25 p.m.
Executive Director, Empower, The Disability Resource Centre
I know you didn't ask, but I just want to make reference to your mention of getting your mail once a week. That's a little bit problematic for people who have disabilities and probably for seniors as well, because we have special appointments. I don't know if it's just in Newfoundland and Labrador, but you get very short notice about when your next appointment's going to be, and you get it by mail.