Thank you.
In my experience with not-for-profits, both at the Red Cross and in the town of High River where we made extensive use of mail-outs, we did not find any difference in the success or lack of success of mail-outs that go out to either houses or boxes. For us, there was no difference at all.
Canada Post is very good at alerting us about the strikes that tend to happen from time to time before they happen so that we can make alternate arrangements if we need to—the proverbial Plan B.
In my private capacity, not professionally or workwise, I want to touch on the issue of postboxes versus home delivery. For five years, we lived in a house where we had a postbox. It was an absolutely amazing experience to walk to the postbox and meet other people who lived near you or who you would see driving past. It created a sense of community and camaraderie; people got to know each other; people went for walks, and people got exercise. They would drive home, and then go and fetch the post.
Then we moved to the house we are in currently, where for the first two years we got home delivery. We saw all these new neighbours, and we never met them. Everybody just waved to each other. Then, suddenly, we got postboxes. One or two people complained, but today the whole crescent knows everybody because we make a point of going for a walk around the block to fetch the post. People get exercise; people meet each other; people have become friends, and people have gone into each other's homes.
I think it makes logical sense. People get exercise. People get out into the fresh air. There are occasions when people are away, and we borrow each other's keys. For the elderly, we go and help them, take their post for them, and they get to meet the community as well.
Whereas it was cool to have a postman coming and to see him every day, he never came inside. We never got to know him, and it was just a wave, whereas now, everybody who lives in the same area that's affected by the same box, is getting to know each other. I think it adds to inclusivity and diversity, and all the things that make Canada great. All these people from different places are suddenly now talking to each other. In the past, we could have lived there for 10 years, and just waved at them every day, as a lot of us do.
That's my pitch about Canada Post and boxes versus home delivery. I'm not even going to touch on the cost of having vehicles start and stop all the time, because that's an astronomical cost.