Super mailboxes hit by thieves, says Langley councillor

Langley Township Councillor Steve Ferguson says super mailboxes in his community have been broken into at least ten times in the last year and a half,forcing him to drive 10 kilometres to pick up his mail at a depot instead.

We have to have a product at the end of the day that works and should be safe for people using the mail- Langley councillor Steve Ferguson

In December, Canada Post announced it will phase out urban home delivery, replacing it with the community mailbox system over the next five years.

But Ferguson questions whether super mailboxes will be secure enough once the transition happens.

"They should bring in equipment that's Crime Prevention Through Community and Safety Police designed. They should work with our police.They should work with us. We have to have a product at the end of the day that works and should be safe for people using the mail."

Canada Post says the company is in the process of replacing Ferguson's super mailbox and is also replacing boxes in high-risk areas with reinforced mailboxes.

A CBC investigation in July, found more than 4,800 reports of incidents involving community mailboxes in 130 B.C. communities between 2008 and 2013.

In December, RCMP reported they were investigating 53 mailbox thefts in the south Okanagan town of Oliver, plus additional thefts in Cawson, Keremeos and Kaleden over a three-week period.

Postal workers rally

On Monday, the union representing postal workers held rallies across Canada to protest the looming cuts.

B.C. postal workers rallied in Victoria. Workers want plans to raise the price of stamps, and to cut home delivery and 8,000 jobs reversed.

Canada Post says if it doesn't make the cuts, the corporation will face a billion dollar deficit by 2020.

Janet Barney, the president of the Victoria local of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers says she doesn't believe it.

"Canada Post is making money. You know, it's like we have to do something before, you know, it goes broke, and it's not broke. It's working. It's what, like, 17 of the last 18 years we've been making money."

Yesterday hundreds of postal workers protested the proposed cuts in front of the Prime Minister's office in Ottawa.