Investigation continues into lack of mail delivery

For months last year people in parts of Digby County saw no mail

The RCMP says it is still carrying out its investigation into months of mail not being delivered to parts of Digby County.

Canada Post, meanwhile, won’t comment specifically on the matter due to the police investigation and also, it says, for privacy issues.

Residents of parts of Digby County say that for months mail was not being delivered to areas of the county from around July to October, 2019. The Tri-County Vanguard has been told areas affected included Culloden Road RR3, Digby Neck RR4 and Barton RR4.

“We had cheques that were sent to us that never arrived, that was back mid-July,” said a local resident who asked that her name not be used. “We were very impacted by not receiving cheques for our business and outgoing mail that was never sent, or sent a month after being mailed.”

She said she knew of at least 50 other people who experienced issues relating to their mail.

Complaints about the mail delivery, or lack thereof, were made to Canada Post. Last fall Canada Post had its Canada Post’s Security and Investigations Services look into the matter.

People in the area have said as a result of that probe a large quantity of undelivered mail was found at a property.

Since the incident Canada Post has posted a job advertisement seeking a new mail carrier in the area of Digby County where mail was not being delivered months ago.

It says the mail is being delivered regularly again.

Asked for specifics about the matter, and what had transpired with the person who was supposed to have been delivering the mail, Canada Post media relations spokesperson Valérie Chartrand said in an email response, “We do not discuss personnel issues publicly for privacy reasons, and due to an ongoing police investigation it would not be appropriate to comment further on the matter you are inquiring about.”

However, she did offer this. “We apologize once again to our customers for any inconvenience caused by delivery issues that occurred between

July and October 2019. The mail recovered by Canada Post’s Security and Investigations Services was delivered along with a letter to our customers informing them of the situation and apologizing for the delay,” she said.

The RCMP, meanwhile, continue to look into the matter.

RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Lisa Croteau said last week that the

RCMP started an investigation after receiving a complaint last fall of an alleged theft of mail that had occurred over the course of several months.

Meanwhile, asked if Canada Post has safeguards in place to prevent incidents like this from occurring, or if people who didn’t receive their mail have any recourse, their spokesperson responded by saying, “We take the security and delivery of the mail very seriously.”

“We do not divulge specific security measures publicly as doing so would significantly undermine their effectiveness,” Chartrand said. “Customers who have concerns about the delivery of their mail should contact Canada Post's Customer Service at 1-800-2671177. Also, if you witness any suspicious activity, please inform law enforcement authorities and Canada Post’s Customer Service immediately.”