Some residents in the more remote areas of Mission want to know what happened to their mail service.
Several people are complaining that it has been two weeks since they received any mail in their community mailboxes.
The large buildup of ice and snow surrounding the boxes is being blamed for the lack of delivery.
But residents don’t know whether to contact Canada Post or the district for help.
Mission Mayor Randy Hawes said people who get home delivery have to clean their own sidewalk or they won’t get their mail. However, the community maiboxes are a different story.
“With the community mailboxes, which was actually the choice of the post office to install, why should it not be their (Canada Post’s) responsibility?”
He said the responsibility to make sure someone has access to a mailbox has “never, ever belonged to the city.”
Hawes also said the cost to send smaller, Bobcat-like vehicles out to each mailbox would be extremely high.
When asked about the situation, Philipe Legault, a media relations representative for Canada Post, told The Record via email that Canada Post is responsible for the maintenance of community mailbox sites.
“We have been doing so for over 30 years and continue to take this responsibility very seriously. We clear the area in front of the mailbox and should a snow plow pass after we cleaned up the area, we will resend a crew to clear the site again,” he wrote.
He added that any Mission resident who has an issue with their community mailbox should call 1-844-454-3009 immediately and inform them of the mailbox’s location.