The mayor of Warwick Township is "completely disappointed" with Canada Post's response to an ongoing dispute over its requirement for all mail and shipments in Watford to include a post office box number.
Residents launched a petition in January as deliveries were being missed as a result of the stipulation.
Mayor Todd Case believed the issue would be resolved by the end of the year after the matter was discussed at the 2023 Rural Ontario Municipal Association conference.
However, the end of 2023 is quickly approaching and Canada Post has yet to resolve the issue.
CAO/Clerk Amanda Gubbels provided an update on the matter during this week's council meeting, in which a letter from Canada Post was included in the agenda.
"It does read that the municipality has taken all of the steps required to request the changes to our delivery method using PO boxes in Watford, but that unfortunately, there is no timeline associated with Canada Post's provision or response on that change," said Gubbels. "I continue to follow up with Canada Post on a regular basis."
Case said the response from Canada Post was "absolutely ridiculous."
"I just want to say how disappointed I am, personally, that they have not come to the table with a solution at this time after saying that they thought they had a solution that would work quite well and they figured a calendar year would take care of it quite nicely," said Case. "So [I'm] completely disappointed."
Case also took issue with the lack of initiative from Canada Post to respond in a timely manner.
"So we will be following up with them again and basically letting them know that we are completely unsatisfied with the service that we've gotten from them," Case said. "We are the ones who have to continue to enquire about where we are in this process and that's not good business either."
A motion was passed for the correspondence with Canada Post to be received and filed.
In an emailed statement to Sarnia News Today, Canada Post said a standard process is followed across the country when it comes to civic addressing requests.
"At this time, we are unable to provide timelines until the request has been approved. We will be in touch with local officials, as well as the community, with more information and timelines if this request is approved and scheduled for implementation," read an emailed response from the media relations department. "We appreciate our customers’ understanding as we move through the civic addressing approval process."
Customers who have questions about their mail delivery, can contact Canada Post’s customer service team online or by calling 1-866-607-6301.