White Rock merchants and residents affected by the removal of Canada Post mailboxes from Central Plaza earlier this year are getting an apology from the corporation this week – and the promise of another mailbox.
Canada Post spokesperson Lillian Salchner said Thursday a street mailbox will be back at the 15182 North Bluff Rd. mall “very soon.”
“An error was made,” Salchner told Peace Arch News. “We’re going to rectify it as soon as possible.”
The site has been without mailboxes since just after Shoppers Drug Mart relocated across the street to South Surrey in January. In addition to inconveniencing merchants, the removal raised “serious safety concerns” for elderly residents who had no choice but to navigate across busy North Bluff Road in order to send mail, Sherri Wilson Morissette points out in a June 14 letter to Canada Post officials.
Wilson Morissette, who is executive director of the White Rock Business Improvement Association, said she had no trouble this week collecting merchant signatures on a petition calling for the return of the mailboxes.
While she was thrilled to learn from PAN that a mailbox would be returned to the plaza, Wilson Morissette said she will still send the petition to Canada Post, in hopes of receiving an official response regarding the mailbox’s return.
Salchner said the mistake was simply “human error.”
“A street letter box should have remained at that location, but there was a mistake that was made,” she said. “We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.”
