City of Hamilton taking Canada Post to court over super mailboxes

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The city of Hamilton is now the first municipality in Canada to take Canada Post to court over the installation of community mailboxes. The City of Hamilton has passed a bylaw that requires all utilities to apply for $200 permits before installing new hardware on city property.

“We need to have a say in the location of these super mailboxes to insure that they address the sensitivity of our community” says Hamilton City Councillor Terry Whitehead. But Canada Post, which is in the midst of eliminating door-to-door mail service to 36-thousand homes on the Hamilton Mountain, says that the federal Canada Post corporation act supercedes the city’s new bylaw and will continue installing the mailboxes. That led the city to contact it’s lawyers. “Canada Post hasn’t sat down and applied for those permits…they’re going like gangbusters installing those new super mailboxes in without any fruitful dialogue.”

Hamilton MP David Christopherson addressed the issue today during Question Period. “Canada post says that they have the right under federal law to march into Hamilton and run roughshod over land use decisions and ignore their permit restrictions and regimes.”

Canada Post says that they’ve been collaborating with the city and residents throughout the process. “We’ve even surveyed all 36-thousand households going through the change. We’ve been knocking on about 2 thousand homes talking about locations. We’ve made a number of changes from the feedback we’ve received” says Canada Post spokesperson Jon Hamilton.

For the landscapers installing the new mailboxes, tickets will be handed out next week – which will be bad for their future business. “If they’re charged, until that charge has been resolved they cannot bid on any city contracts, period” says Terry Whitehead.

In the meantime, Canada Post says that they are moving forward.