My name is Lori Friars. I'm the coordinator of the Moose Jaw and District Seniors Association. With me is Wayne McGregor, the president of the association.
According to the 2011 census, the percentage of the population age 65 and older in Moose Jaw was 18.6%, compared with the national percentage of 14.8%. That percentage, I would assume, has only increased since 2011—and we heard from the city earlier that it is higher—because there was an additional 5% of Moose Javians who were age 60 to 64 at that time.
Over the past few weeks, I've spoken to a number of seniors to hear their thoughts about Canada Post. Those I spoke with all voiced that they felt Canada Post was a highly valuable public service that they wanted to see continue. For many seniors, the mail is their connection to their families. Families today are not just spread across the city, but across the country and the world. Many seniors depend on the mail system to keep in contact with their family, to send and receive greetings and packages on special occasions, and to pay their bills. According to the “Canada Post in the digital age” study, three in 10 Canadians prefer to receive paper bills to digital. This is particularly true with older Canadians. Some 47% of Canadians 60 years and older prefer paper bills. Many seniors do not have access to the Internet, or do not own nor have ever used a computer.
I asked one senior what her thoughts were on converting post offices to franchise outlets. Her response was that it was not a good idea, that it “would be giving up Canada Post's reputation.” When I asked what she meant by that, she said, “You know that the post office is dependable. When you go there, you know that you and your letters and your parcels are their number one concern. When you go to a franchise outlet, the mail is not necessarily their main concern. They're concerned about stocking the shelves, running the pharmacy, selling their product, etc. Sometimes you have to even ring a bell to get them to come from their other business to look after you at the postal station. So what do they know about the mail system?”
Most seniors I spoke to talked about the community mailboxes, so that's where I'm going to focus my presentation. I believe most of the homes in Moose Jaw, if not all, have community mailbox delivery. While seniors are learning to live with these boxes, they have concerns.
For seniors with mobility issues, getting to and from the mailbox, which is sometimes a block or more away, is difficult at best in the warmer months, and nearly impossible in the winter months. Imagine trying to use a walker or some other mobility device for a block to pick up your mail through snow, ice, or even just a build-up of leaves. This is assuming that it's a flat, level sidewalk, which we all know is not the case. According to Parachute Canada's “The Cost of Injury in Canada” report from September 2015, seniors were over four times more likely to be hospitalized for injuries than people under age 65. At 76.5%, unintentional falls were the most frequent cause of injury hospitalizations in seniors. The older the senior, the higher their proportion of hospitalized injuries.
I spoke with one senior who had been homebound for a few months. When I asked why, she told me she had gone down to the mailbox and had become dizzy. She grabbed onto the mailbox. The next thing she knew she was waking up on the ground, having hit her head. That was nearly two months ago, and she still has not recovered.
Some seniors have weekly home delivery by Canada Post, and those who I spoke to said that while they appreciated the service, they felt that weekly wasn't enough. They rely on their families and neighbours and pay other people to check their mail on other days. Most seniors are on a fixed income and do not have the resources to pay someone to assist them with the mail. A lot of them weren't aware that this was even available.
The trend today is to have seniors remain in their own homes for as long as possible. Community mailboxes are one obstacle to this. When you have decreased mobility, it's difficult to get around your home. Imagine trying to walk across the street or down the block. Home mail service is one way to prevent injuries to seniors, but it's also a means of communication for some. With home delivery, you often know your letter carrier by name, and they know the people on their route. They would see if mail were piling up, and that was unusual.
Some people drive to the mailboxes, that's an option for some, but what about seniors who no longer have a driver's licence?
A couple of other things that were identified was the cost of letter and parcel postage. The cost of stamps most thought was reasonable, but delivering packages, particularly internationally, was very expensive. There were concerns about damage to packages when outsourced and who would be responsible, and concerns about emissions from all the vehicles going to the community boxes.