Canada Post says it takes security seriously after mailbox panel left open due to difficulties closing it

By Peggy Revell on August 10, 2017.

prevell@medicinehatnews.com @MHNprevell

Canada Post says a community mailbox was left open in the Ross Glen neighbourhood due to difficulties closing and securing a panel.

“We take the security of the mail very seriously,” said Hayley Magermans, a spokesperson for Canada Post, in an email to the News. Mail was removed and secured, while a work order was submitted for the panel to be fixed.

“We anticipate that the panel will be fixed by the end of the day (Wednesday).”

While it may have appeared to passersby that there were two parcels in the top and bottom boxes, Canada Post says that these were “blockers.” These “blockers” identify vacant mailbox compartments or compartments that do not have an address attached to them, and have “closed” written on them — although this may not have been easily visible to residents.

Ross Glen resident Rudy Futros found one of the three mailbox panels open when he went to check his mail just after 1 p.m. on Wednesday. Futros told the News that when he called Canada Post to report the open panel he was told it would take four hours for someone to get there. Other neighbours told Futros they had seen the mail carrier frustrated and struggling to shut the panel.

If a passerby sees an open community mailbox panel, Canada Post asks that they call customer service immediately at 1-866-607-6301.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the only time open panels on the community mailboxes have made residents worry over the security of their mail.

CBC reported Aug. 9 of a similar incident occurring in Edmonton, with a panel left open, and residents being concerned. In March, some residents in Mississauga found that a panel in their community mailbox was sitting unlocked and open. In Simcoe, Ont. in Feb. of this year, a police officer was dispatched to watch over a community mailbox that was inadvertently left open, with mail in some of the slots, the community newspaper reported.

Canada Post also had to upgrade the locks on thousands of community mailboxes in Eastern Canada after residents reported that the locks were freezing up during winter months.

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