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Mail frustrations continue Residents saying Canada Post doesn't deliver like it should
Myles Dolphin
Northern News Services
Published Monday, September 30, 2013
IQALUIT
The thorny issue of mail delivery in Nunavut has once again reared its ugly head in Iqaluit, where residents and city councilors continue to gripe about Canada Post delays.
Iqaluit resident Craig Welsh, who has lived in the community for eight years, said the mail delivery has been particularly slow since the summer.
"It's a Northern experience to complain about the speed of mail delivery in Nunavut," he said.
"I think we tend to expect slow delivery during certain peak periods - Christmas and tax season, for example - but July, August and September are not peak mail times. I know the local post office has some issues with staffing, but there is no way I believe the mail is being held up for weeks at the local post office."
Welsh said he hears other residents complain about the service on a daily basis, wondering why their packages are delayed for such a long time.
One of his own packages, ordered from Hong Kong this past summer, made it to Montreal in a few days, but sat at the sorting facility for a few weeks.
"It's one of the joys of having online tracking numbers - you can see exactly where the bottleneck is, and it's in Montreal," he said.
"It's wrong that a package can get half way around the world considerably faster than it can from Montreal to Iqaluit."
Canada Post spokesperson Eugene Knapik said the recent issues were caused by temporary staff shortages that disrupted mail delivery for a few weeks.
"We're back up to full staff now and it should be OK," he said.
"We're monitoring our mail delivery to Iqaluit daily and we really appreciate our customers' patience over the last few weeks. Occasional staffing issues can happen like they can in any business, and it's harder to bring temporary people on board (in Iqaluit), but we're back to full strength and not anticipating any further problems."
The ongoing issue once again came to a head before the spring, when Iqaluit city council sent a letter to Canada Post requesting explanations for its slow delivery to Nunavut.
The reply council received on April 4 was unsatisfactory, according to Coun. Kenny Bell, who said the service has only gotten worse since then.
Bell said staff shortages have nothing to do with the issue.
"Canada Post hasn't gotten better since the complaints were filed. They have gotten worse," he said.
"It has nothing to do with the staff here. The staff in Iqaluit is great - it's the Canada Post process that slows the mail down. They can say they had staff turnover until they are blue in the face ... they need a sorting plant here in Iqaluit."
Welsh echoed Bell's suggestion, saying it's time for Canada Post to step up and do something to fix the issue.
"I think Canada Post's president should come up to Nunavut and talk to residents, listen to their concerns and commit to coming up with solutions to improve delivery," he said.
"The mail is vital for a lot of Nunavummiut."
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