It鈥檚 no secret that Canadians鈥� shift away from letters and cards to electronic methods of staying in touch has been tough on sa国际传媒 Post. In the past five years alone, mail volumes have fallen almost 20 per cent, the Crown corporation says.
Its latest effort at shoring up revenue has all the subtlety of a pit bull sinking its teeth into a letter-carrier鈥檚 shoes. sa国际传媒 Post will start charging $200 for every new home to cover the cost of installing community mailboxes, effective Jan. 1.
The fee is just one more cost that erodes the affordability of housing, warns the president of the Canadian Home Builders Association.
Canadians have seen a decades-long decline in the level of postal service. Door-to-door delivery gave way to the ubiquitous group mailboxes more than two decades ago in newer communities; now builders and their customers are being asked to pay a one-time $200 fee per address.
鈥淭his levy will be paid by the new homebuyer,鈥� writes home-builders鈥� president Ron Olson in a letter we assume was mailed, not faxed or emailed, to Denis Lebel, the minister responsible for sa国际传媒 Post. 鈥淎s a result, new home buyers are not only having to accept a lower standard of mail service 鈥� they are now being required to subsidize this lower standard of service.鈥�
We鈥檙e not unsympathetic to sa国际传媒 Post鈥檚 challenges, but it appears that common sense has gotten lost in the mail.
sa国际传媒 Post can鈥檛 continue to water down its service and expect new homebuyers to pay extra for it. This is one idea that should be marked 鈥淩eturn to sender.鈥�
Calgary Herald
