Staff shortage slows mail delivery
Frustration builds as residents endure spotty postal services ahead of Christmas and for the second time this year
Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Published Friday, December 20, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
There may be a little extra space under the Christmas tree this winter thanks to another staff shortage at Canada Post.
Social media has been alight this week with Yellowknifers complaining that they have not received mail in weeks.
Residents in Ndilo and Latham Island, as well as other areas around the city have been expressing concern that they will not get cheques, letters and packages in time for Christmas.
Ndilo resident Eileen Betsina is one of those people. Betsina is currently raising her 10-year-old grandson, D.J., and said she has not received mail since the end of November.
She is especially upset because she is currently waiting on a child benefit cheque from the federal government.
"I'm raising my grandson and he asks me every day, 'Mama did you receive anything yet?'" said Betsina.
Betsina's neighbours have also told her they have not been receiving mail over the last few weeks.
"We're wondering what's going on with the mail - everyone is complaining," said Betsina.
Betsina said when she called Canada Post to ask why she hadn't received any mail, the woman on the other line was unable to give her an answer.
"She was kind of rude to me," said Betsina.
According to Phil Legault, manager of media relations for Canada Post, the "sporadic delivery" has been caused by a high turnover of employees at the post office.
"We've had some problems (in Yellowknife) with our delivery people and our mail carriers," said Legault.
This is the second time in the last six months that staffing issues have affected the delivery of mail in Yellowknife.
Earlier this summer, some residents complained of not receiving mail for more than a month after a Canada Post employee quit while another one was on holiday.
Legault was not able to give exact figures of how many people had recently left the company, but added that the delivery of parcels would not be affected by the staff shortage.
He said the post office has actively looking to hire new agents for Yellowknife but that finding people has been a challenge.
He added that Canada Post's rigorous screening process, which is in place for security reasons, can sometimes create a delay in hiring new staff.
That is little consolation to Betsina's grandson, who wants to use some of the money from the cheque to buy gifts for his family.
"Everyday he comes in and tells me that, and he's so disappointed," said Betsina.
"It's close to Christmas and he wants to buy Christmas presents for his mom and his cousins."
Legault could not make any guarantees, but said employees have been working overtime and weekends to make sure mail is delivered before Christmas.
"The manager I spoke with in Yellowknife said they really are working hard to get our service levels back up to normal," said Legault.
"We apologize for any inconvenience that this has caused people over the last little while."
