Toronto Star ePaper

Mystery over shrink-wrapped mailboxes deepens

JACK LAKEY CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST WHAT’S BROKEN IN YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD? WHEREVER YOU ARE IN GREATER TORONTO, WE WANT TO KNOW. EMAIL JLAKEY@THESTAR.CA OR FOLLOW @TOSTARFIXER ON TWITTER.

Canada Post mailboxes in midtown Toronto are being taken out of service for no apparent reason, making it harder for local residents to use snail mail.

With so much communicating and bill-paying done online, an old-fashioned mailbox is right up there with phone booths, shag carpet and ashtrays for anyone under 40.

It’s easy to overlook the number of people — they aren’t all seniors — who still pay bills by mailing a cheque or otherwise use paper mail for whatever.

I recently wrote about a mailbox that was moved from where it had long been located on St. Clair Avenue, forcing an 80year-old woman to walk a long way down the street. She worried about falling on a slippery sidewalk.

Mailboxes are still valued by those who use them; they’d prefer not to go on a trek that might include a dangerous patch of ice.

Joanna Basen emailed photos of upwards of a dozen mailboxes that were wrapped in cellophane to keep mail out of them or otherwise taken out of service. “I have noticed a suspicious number of Canada Post mailboxes that are out of commission on Yonge Street between Bloor (Street) and Eglinton (Avenue),” she said, adding that it needs to be investigated.

Ian Urquhart, a former managing editor at the Star, also sent me a note about “taped-up” mailboxes on Yonge, as far north as Lawrence Avenue, and also along Mount Pleasant Road, up to Lawrence.

Basen provided photos of plastic-wrapped boxes at a halfdozen points along Yonge, and also a photo of four boxes in a row laid face-down at Yonge and Bloor and another two face-down at the Rosedale TTC station. Some had notices attached that included the address of another box or postal station.

I found several in the Yonge-Davenport area that had damaged lids, as if they’d been vandalized, and the cellophane removed. But there’s no obvious damage to many of the boxes photographed by Basen and no apparent reason why they’re out of service.

Status Canada Post emailed an explanation for the shrinkwrapped boxes that put the blame entirely on vandalism. “We can confirm there have been incidents of vandalism to street letter boxes” between Eglinton and Bloor, it said. “The damaged street letter boxes will be repaired.

“When a street letterbox is damaged, it is wrapped in plastic to prevent customers from using an out of order mailbox. It will also have a poster indicating the closest Canada Post office or street letterboxes that customers can drop off their letter, mail or parcel.”

That didn’t square with the number of shrink-wrapped boxes that appear to be undamaged, so I asked Canada Post for an explanation and also asked if damage to mailboxes in Toronto is a growing problem. Here’s the reply: “Canada Post takes the security of mail very seriously. While a wrapped street letterbox may appear to be fully functional on the outside, local operations would still need to inspect the box to ensure that there are no damages that could compromise the security of mail.

“Our Security and Investigations team continue to work with local law enforcement to look into the incidents of vandalism of our street letterboxes. As these investigations are ongoing, it would be inappropriate to provide specific details.”

That’s pretty dodgy. No wonder people are suspicious.

NEWS

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2023-02-08T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-02-08T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://torontostar.pressreader.com/article/281655374232063

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