Doing Away with Door-to-Door Mail Service

Last year, Canada Post announced that it would be phasing out door-to-door delivery for many communities across Canada. In addition to the elimination of door-to-door delivery, the price of stamps has also increased to 85 cents up from 63 cents as an effort to curd loses of $104 million dollars last year. Canada Post has said that replacing door-to-door delivery with community mailboxes will have the largest impact on the $1-billion Canada Post deficit. The Transportation Minister Lisa Raitt said that Canada Post is “modernizing its business and aligning postal services with the choices of Canadians.”[1]

As technology improves the way we communicate, the volume of written letters continues to decline. The decline in the volume of transaction mail over the past decade can be attributed directly to the emergence of the internet. The web has made writing letters all but obsolete, since sending email is not only free and simple, but one doesn’t pay for the cost of shipping and postage. Written letters are quickly going the way of the typewriter, the horse-drawn carriage, and the flintlock pistol. Therefore, if Canada Post is going to remain a viable and sustainable business in the decades to come, it needs to adapt to the march of technology.

However, many people in my community still do not recognize the need for doing away with door-to-door delivery. Almost every second household on my street brandishes a lawn sign lauding their support for maintaining this service. A petition on Change.org even has over 150, 000 signatures from those who wish to keep door-to-door delivery. Many people feel very strongly about this issue, even though the reasons they give for why door-to-door delivery should be maintained are not very persuasive.

The petition on change.org has the following to say,

“My grandfather, god rest his soul, was a WW2 veteran and became a mailman. They take their work very seriously otherwise they would not brave the weather. My current mail carrier is also proud of the service she provides for the community. Why change something that is working well for communities across Canada?”

There are bound to be people who have an emotional attachment to the notion of home mail delivery, but warm sentiments alone do not generate revenue. It would be just as absurd as somebody suggesting that Blockbuster Video should stay in business and operate at a loss just because they have an emotional attachment to their big blue store signs. It seems that those opposed to ending door-to door delivery want to have their cake and eat it too. They want Canada Post to continue the service despite the fact that they do not contribute to demand by purchasing stamps or writing letters. If one is truly adamant about maintaining door-to-door delivery, the most sensible way of having their voice heard is by actually writing letters. Show Canada Post that there is in fact a demand for mail delivery. Voting with your wallet is more effective than displaying signs on your lawn or signing some petition that will likely just be ignored.

              However, there will probably not be a renaissance of letter-writing anytime in the foreseeable future. The internet is just too efficient a means of communication that snail mail is hard-pressed to compete with it. I don’t think the majority of people are going to spend money on stamps that they don’t have to just for the sake of continuing door-to-door mail service. Being a Crown Corporation, I doubt Canada Post would be making these changes unless they were absolutely necessary. Instead of feeling nostalgic about the death of an obsolete means of communication, we should be celebrating the birth of a new one.

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[1] http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/canada-post-to-phase-out-urban-home-mail-delivery-1.2459618