How can Canada Post make community mailboxes accessble? | Letters to the Editor

A Canada Post employee delivers to community mailboxes. Photo by Peter J Thompson /POSTMEDIA

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Please explain how to “easily” solve accessibility

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In her recent editorial, Ms. Pellerin suggests that community mailboxes are “fine, provided we make them accessible for folks in wheelchairs or other mobility devices “ adding that it is “easily solved.”

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I would respectfully ask: How?

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My father is 102 years old and continues to live independently in his own home. He does not use a wheelchair or a formal mobility device, yet the walk to the community mailbox at the end of his street is simply too far for him to manage safely on a regular basis. His situation is hardly unique. Many seniors fall into this in-between category; mobile in principle, but limited in practice.

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What, precisely, is the envisioned solution here? A dedicated lane on a narrow suburban street? Door to door accommodation on request? If so, how would that differ from the service being eliminated?

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Accessibility is not a one size fits all concept, and to characterize is as “easily solved” risks overlooking the real, lived challenges of aging Canadians who wish to remain in their homes and communities.

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I would welcome a more detailed explanation of how such accessibility would be meaningfully achieved.

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Marie-Lyne Fréchette
Orléans, ON

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No other solution for Canadian mail?

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Is it just me, or could Canada Post not just move to home delivery every two days, and thus only need to pay half of the salaries for its delivery people, therefore keeping home delivery?

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Sylvain Lamarche, Orléans

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Problems with moving out day at UofO

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Shame on University of Ottawa, which has elected to give the administrative finger to the 1,300 of its students who spent the past school year in its residences.

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UOttawa has set 9 a.m. on May 1 — a Friday — as the deadline to be cleared out of residence. An extension of so much as a minute past that incurs a $116 penalty that will be added to the student’s account — and the privilege must be applied for weeks in advance with no guarantee it will be granted.

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Many students are writing exams until 8 p.m. the night before the clear-out deadline. Many more have parents (I’m one of them) who must drive hours to collect their sons or daughters and their stuff. For me, a 9 a.m. Friday deadline means showing up the day before, the Thursday, and taking two days off work, with two days of lost wages. Of course, we could always just fork over the penalty money. As if the $15,000 my daughter has already paid in room and board this school year wasn’t enough.

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When my daughter moved into residence, the process worked like clockwork. It was organized. It was efficient. It was cheerful. Countless volunteers and extra staff were on hand to help. It took place on a Saturday, when people were free from work, and it was staggered throughout the day to spread out the congestion and elevator use.

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Moving out? That’s a different story. No help. No staggered departure. No weekend.

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The message, which incoming UOttawa students and their parents would be wise to pay attention to, is that UOttawa loves you before you’ve paid your school year’s residence fees. And afterward? Get out.

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Craig Daniels, Kitchener, Ont.

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