First of all, thank you for the opportunity to speak to this committee.
Community Links is a provincial organization of senior and senior-serving organizations. We work to promote age-friendly communities across Nova Scotia. I'm here on behalf of the older population, both urban and rural, who are members of our association.
The termination of door-to-door delivery is in direct opposition to the need to maintain healthy, safe communities and to allow seniors to age in place. Indeed, aging in place is one of the favourite themes of all levels of government. One of the rationales behind the aging in place philosophy is that the longer people can live independently in their homes and communities, the less the financial and social burden will be in trying to increase nursing home beds and other levels of care.
In order for people to age in place, however, services must be available in both urban and rural communities. Home delivery of mail is just such a highly valued service. Mail delivery provides communication, access, and injury prevention to those facing mobility challenges.
Consider the unpredictable winter weather in Atlantic Canada and elsewhere, when flash freezing has left sidewalks, roads, and driveways thick with ice, rendering them impassable for many people with any mobility challenge. Add to this the significant number of seniors who no longer possess a driver's licence and community mailboxes that are situated in excess of two kilometres from a residence in some parts of rural Nova Scotia. This places an additional hardship on seniors trying to receive their mail.
I'm reminded of a recent story of an older adult in Mineville, Nova Scotia, who in spite of using a wheelchair has remained independent and is able to drive their adapted car. However, the lockbox—or community mailbox, in your terms—is located down a slope, which presents a challenge to the wheelchair user both in approaching the mailbox and returning to her car. You can imagine what this struggle would look like on an icy day in February.
The community mailbox sites pose added challenges for the older population, including staying safe in inclement weather and dealing with frozen locks and ice underfoot. There are also reports of community mailboxes being the target of vandalism, arson, and theft, translating to an increase in the number of victims should these mail stations become the norm.
The positive impact of letter carriers on senior and community safety stretches far beyond the winter months. Home delivery allows letter carriers to identify homes where mail is piling up, which may signal that the homeowner has been hurt or has become seriously ill.
Letter carriers have close and regular access to individual homes that allow them to act as the eyes and ears of a community. Should letter carrier services cease, the inconvenience or impossibility of walking to a community mailbox will inevitably result in many seniors depending on others to pick up and deliver their mail. Not only will this put seniors at greater risk of victimization—for example, through mail fraud and theft—but it will increase seniors' dependency and isolation.
I'd like to highlight two or three items reported in a discussion paper on Canada Post and the digital age. First of all, 92% of Canadians surveyed—and this is in the discussion paper—say that door-to-door delivery is essential for people with mobility and health problems, including some elderly. I would add that with our aging population, there are many older adults who are going to find it difficult to travel to community boxes.
Second, another statistic from the discussion paper suggests that reducing delivery to every other day was the most popular cost reduction strategy supported by Canadians. Nobody really now needs their mail to be delivered every day.
In the executive summary to the recent discussion paper, it is stated that while Canada Post operates as a commercial corporation, it differs from for profit-making private sector corporations in that its primary mandate is one of public service. We want to emphasize that: that this is an essential public service, and the profit motive should not be near the top of the list of reasons for making changes.
Thank you.