City girds for superbox battle with Canada Post

New bylaw for permits could lead to court

Thespec.com
April 16, 2015
By Matthew Van Dongen

The city is willing to take Canada Post to court over its plans to unilaterally install controversial super-mailboxes across the city.

Council enacted a new bylaw Wednesday that requires the Crown corporation to apply for a $200 permit for each of an estimated 4,000 community mailboxes meant to replace door-to-door mail delivery in Hamilton.

That means city bylaw officers can now lay provincial offences charges if Canada Post ignores the new rules and begins installing the unpopular "super-mailboxes" this week on the Mountain.

The agency argued Wednesday it isn't bound by the bylaw.

The city should charge the Crown corporation anyway in the case of a violation "and let the courts decide who is right and who is wrong," said Coun. Terry Whitehead.

Whitehead put forward what he called an "unprecedented" municipal regulation motion.

"There ought to be some regulations that apply when Canada Post does this, because it sounds like they're going to continue on (with mailbox installation) whether we like it or not," said Mayor Fred Eisenberger. "I think they ought to be a little more understanding and work with the city ... to access our right-of-ways and roadways."

Canada Post has no plans to delay the first wave of installations on the Mountain, said spokesperson Jon Hamilton, who nonetheless wouldn't speculate how the Crown corporation will react if it is charged under a municipal bylaw.

He reiterated that Canada Post believes it continues to have the "jurisdiction" and "authority" to install mailboxes in municipal road allowances. The agency is willing to "work collaboratively" on locating the boxes, he added, but that doesn't include following the bylaw or applying for individual permits.

A letter from the agency's lawyer received by council before the meeting called the law "inapplicable" to Canada Post and "directly in conflict" with the Canada Post Corporation Act.

The city's legal experts think otherwise, however.

"We don't think, in a nutshell, that our regulatory authority prevents them from delivering their ... federal mandate, which is delivering the mail," said city solicitor Janice Atwood-Petkovski, who nonetheless added she wasn't aware of any other city that has enacted a similar bylaw. There is no set fine identified in the bylaw, so a judge would have determine a financial penalty if one is warranted, said Atwood-Petkovski.

The agency could simply challenge the entire bylaw in court, she added. Canada Post's spokesperson wouldn't say Wednesday whether that is an option under consideration.

The city estimates it could cost the municipality an average of $200 per mailbox to deal with applications for each mailbox site, although that includes the cost of hiring extra staff to deal with the anticipated influx of permits.

Canada Post, by contrast, has offered cities $50 per mailbox site to deal with issues related to installation.

Council called the special meeting Wednesday in response to notice from the agency that work would begin this week installing 1,000 mailboxes across the Mountain for 36,000 addresses in wards 6 through 9.

Keys to those mailboxes are expected to be delivered in mid-May.

Canada Post is ending door-to-door delivery across the country over time, citing declining demand.