Dear Minister Strahl,

A constituent from my riding,as written to me about his dismay at the elimination of passenger train service between Vancouver and southern points in the US such as Seattle and Portland. I am including his email for your reference.

I respectfully request that your office investigate this matter with the aim toward resolving it.

My consitutent understands that this route, provided by Amtrak, was highly successful in the past year, and the demand for this service remains. He also points out that this decision to cut service apparently also involves VIA Rail.

As you are from BC as well, I’m sure that you can appreciate the growing interdependence between BC and Washington state. I know that your government will agree that it is important to stimulate and support the local economy and tourism and one way to achieve this is through expanded rail service.

In addition to the economic situation, people between our two regions enjoy a close connection as neighbours, friends and family because of our proximity. Further, expanded train service makes environmental sense in terms of reduced car trips.

I would appreciate a response as to why the service was cancelled and how this matter can be resolved.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Libby Davies, MP Vancouver East

Stewart Bacon, President and Chief Executive Officer
Canada Post Corporation
2701 Riverside Drive
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0B1

Dear Mr. Bacon,

RE: Delay of Mail Service

I am writing to express my concerns about an apparent absentee policy that I have just heard about at Canada Post, whereby mail sits undelivered when letter carriers are away. Specifically, no one is called to replace them and therefore mail delivery is delayed.

My colleague, Alex Atamanenko (MP for BC Southern Interior), has recently written on this same matter, and I concur with his points. Service must not be compromised when carriers are absent, as many are dependent on the timely delivery of mail, especially if the mail includes something as important as cheques. In a riding like Vancouver East, the timely delivery of cheques makes the difference between eating or going hungry; or paying the rent or risking eviction.

Further, I am concerned that this policy may be in contravention of the collective agreement, the Canada Post Service Charter, and the Canada Post Act.

Canada has historically had a strong public postal system and I urge you to ensure that this remains the case. I would appreciate a reply as to how and why this policy is in place and what could be done to rectify it.

Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,
Libby Davies, MP (Vancouver East)