Canada Post and the Oliver RCMP are investigating an incidence of vandalism at the Crown corporation’s service office on Fairview Road.

Media relations officer Phil Rogers told the Times Chronicle that some vandalism occurred at the post office sometime after it closed on January 5. It was reported by one resident that nearly 50 boxes were broken into/tampered with but there was no official report of anything stolen.

Shortly after this event my wife took it upon herself to send an email to Canada Post. Naturally she expressed her concerns for security and knowing her she would have asked what, if any, changes might be in the works as this burglary was anything but novel for this facility.

The reply she got was: “We wish to inform you that all of the necessary actions in connection with your Canada Post customer service ticket have been completed and the ticket has been closed.”

Rather dismissive I am sure you agree.

Then on March 2 we get this from the Times Chronicle: Oliver RCMP and Canada Post are investigating another break-in at the post office on Fairview Road where culprits tore open some parcels on Feb. 27.

The Times Chronicle received a tip from a reliable source that someone broke into the building via the back door and some items were “stolen”. But Canada Post did not confirm those details.

One has to wonder why Canada Post would not confirm these details?

My wife once again went back to Canada Post with: “And the Oliver post office was broken into again last night. Items meeting. I guess the camera are not up yet. Possibly a full-time security guard is required. Locking the public out of the front doors has not solved anything.”

To their credit the response from this missive has a different tone:

“Please accept our apologies for the unsatisfactory service you recently experienced with Canada Post related to mail service you received.

The following is the response from the depot regarding your inquiry: ‘CPC security is looking at further security processes for this post office. Local RCMP have stepped up the patrols in the area to assist.

Rest assured we are committed to meeting or exceeding our customers’ expectations by delivered consistently high-quality service.

Your feedback is really important to us. I have captured all the details regarding this incident and have sent it to our Canada Post quality team who is in charge of monitoring this type of issue.

Again, I apologize  for any inconvenience this issue has caused you and would like to thank you for your patience and understanding.'”

Rest assured? Really, with all that has occurred at this facility in recent years. Upon what facts should we be basing that kind of confidence?

I wonder if their response might be different if this situation existed at the parliament buildings post office in Ottawa.

Clearly our packages and correspondence are much less important than those of other user groups.

Once again, CCTV (closed-circuit TV) is the solution.

Michael Guthrie, Oliver