by Glenn Taylor
Northern News Services

INUVIK (Feb 14/97) - Don Cave tried a little experiment to see how good the local post office was.

He mailed himself a letter Monday morning at 9:30 a.m., and waited for it to turn up in his box. Cave claims he finally got the letter back five days later, on a Friday.

Cave was one of a dozen residents who met with Canada Post Corporation management last week, to voice their concerns about service quality.

Cave's five-day letter story wasn't the only grievance posted by residents. Many at the meeting complained of lost mail, late mail and damaged mail, and wondered aloud what the post office is going to do about it.

"I try to do the best I can do, but it seems the post office is not something I can count on to do the same," said Sue Clarkson. "When I need something, there is no guarantee it will get here, and that's frustrating."

Edouard Larocque, representative of the corporation's Northern services division, said he's been aware of problems at the local post office. A series of complaints from the community brought management to bear on Inuvik's operation about 10 months ago, said Larocque.

Since then, he said, improvements have been made in customer service, training, media and labor relations. "Things do take time to change," said Larocque. "Issues have gone on too long unattended."

Larocque also defended the Inuvik post office, pointing out the many transportation difficulties in the North that make delivering the mail on time often difficult. Speaking to the dozen-or-so audience, Larocque said "if this is all the people that have a problem with us in Inuvik, we must be doing a pretty good job."

Larocque questioned why no one came out to the meeting to praise the post office for its good work. "There has to be stories out there about our people going out of their way to help," he said.

In other news, Larocque said Canada Post is still negotiating with Public Works Canada to install a wheelchair ramp onto the building, as had been discussed earlier. Larocque said he hoped a ramp could be in place by the next fiscal year.