BC FORUM News BC FORUM asks Prime Minister Trudeau
to permanently restore Canada Post’s home mail delivery March, 2016 - BC FORUM president Diane Wood has penned a letter to Prime Minister Juston Trudeau on behalf of members of the active and retired workers organization asking for door-to-door mail delivery to be permanently restored by Canada Post. The full content of the letter is reproduced below. A copy of the letter is available for download here.
Dear Right Hon. Justin Trudeau, I am writing on behalf of the BC Federation of Retired Union Members (BC FORUM) to congratulate you on your recent election and introduce our organization as well as an ongoing concern. BC FORUM is unique as we are the only seniors’ group, in the province, that exclusively represents active and retired union members and is directly affiliated with the labour movement. BC FORUM represents thousands of retired and active workers from unions affiliated to the B.C. Federation of Labour. BC FORUM is dedicated to representing the well being of our members, their families, and their communities. To this end we are writing to you about the future of the Canada Post Corporation (CPC). BC FORUM members were distressed when Canada Post announced its plan to end door-to-door mail delivery. We are pleased that the corporation has put a temporary halt to this. However, some of our members lost their door-to-door mail delivery as a result of CPC’s program and we are asking you to restore their home delivery. We do not want seniors slipping and falling while trying to get their mail. BC FORUM is also asking you to ensure this temporary halt to ending door-to-door mail delivery is made permanent. BC FORUM has heard from our members time and time again that they want to stay in their homes as long as possible. This provides them with a sense of well being. There are many services and programs that are needed for this to happen. Canada Post could be part of the spectrum of services that provide seniors with this independence. As you know, letter carriers go to homes regularly and, could check-in with seniors. Currently, La Poste in France is testing this service. In the recent election campaign the Federal Liberals stated they wanted to “stop Stephen Harper’s plan to end door-to-door mail delivery in Canada and undertake a new review of Canada Post to make sure that it provides high quality service at a reasonable price to Canadians, no matter where they live.” BC FORUM is asking for this review to be public, with an opportunity for all interested parties to make submissions discussing the future of Canada Post and the options for building a successful 21st century post office with the ability to create new revenue streams and meet the needs of Canadians - especially seniors. For example, Canada Post could add lucrative postal banking services. Postal banking helps keep postal services viable and financial services accessible in many parts of the world. Postal banking would enable seniors who live in rural and remote communities to do their financial transactions without having to drive for long periods. Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. We would be very interested in knowing what you think about the issues we have raised. BC FORUM looks forward to hearing from you and working with you. We will be sending you copies of our magazine the “ADVOCATE” in the months to come. Yours truly, Diane Wood BC FORUM President | 
