Yellowknife (Nov 24/06) - Residents of Niven Apartments are frustrated with Canada Post.

For the past three weeks Judy West, who lives in the building at 97 Niven Drive, said her regular mail delivery has been anything but.

An empty mailbox has been a common sight for Judy West these days. A staff shortage at Canada Post in Yellowknife has left one of the city's seven delivery routes unstaffed. - Chris Puglia/NNSL photo

"We get a couple weekly publications in our mail, yesterday there were three," West said on Wednesday.

Mail was delivered to the building on Tuesday after numerous calls were made to Canada Post in Yellowknife to complain.

West said a poster was pinned up on the building's bulletin board with pull tabs featuring the number of one of the mail carrier's supervisors.

She said that on Tuesday, before the mail came, all those tabs were gone.

There are seven mail routes in the city and the unstaffed SS1 route encompasses all of Latham Island, Old Town, Niven Drive, Trail's End, 43 to 49 Street, School Draw Avenue, 49A Avenue and one stop on 52 Avenue. The complete route includes 1,200 points of call.

John Caines, director of media relations for Canada Post in Ottawa, said staffing is the problem.

"We're doing our best to get the route staffed. We're having some difficulty getting people employed up there," he said.

Caines attributes the difficulty to competition from higher wage jobs in the mining industry. As well, he said hiring takes time as all Canada Post employees must undergo a criminal record check.

According to a Canada Post supervisor in Yellowknife who preferred to remain anonymous, staffing woes have been a major frustration.

"We worked our way through our entire list of casuals and it's all gone," said the supervisor. "People don't want to do it, or they have found another job."

Weather is a major factor. Working outside in -30C isn't very appealing, he said.

Even when the job is filled, retention has been an issue.

Last week Canada Post managed to find a carrier for the route, part of the reason that West was able to find her mailbox full on Tuesday.

But that day the employee quit, leaving West once again mail-free on Wednesday.

"It wasn't his cup of tea," said the supervisor.

"He was going to commit until Christmas and we had him for four days and he quit."

While the staffing crunch continues, supervisors will try and deliver lettermail as often as possible.

Expresspost and Priority Courier deliveries to business customers have not been affected. Residential parcels are still being delivered during the evening.

Canada Post officials insist they will do their best to maintain a high level of service. However, Caines admitted that delivery may be intermittent.

"It might be two to three times a week as opposed to five times a week," he said.

West said she'd be happy to receive mail that often.

"We're moving, so you need to settle all those things, like bills and statements so it's not lost. So we can get everything organized," she said.

With Christmas right around the corner, Caines said they are working hard to correct the problem so Yellowknife residents don't miss any of their holiday mail.

In November 2004, residents and businesses in Old Town complained of a similar interruption in service along the same route.