Please Mr. Postman, look and see...

The backlash towards Canada Post and their plans for mail delivery on the Queen Charlottes has moved onto the next phase of protest, that of collecting the support of Queen Charlotte city residents by petition.

Queen Charlotte City Mayor Carol Kulesha has reached the frustration level with the lack of cooperation or even feedback from the postal corporation, so she's collecting the names and putting together her own protest letter for delivery to both Canada Post and the Federal government.

She outlined her frustrations for the Daily News as the front page headline story in Wednesday's paper.

ISLANDS MAYOR ORGANIZING PROTEST AT POST SERVICE CUTS
Carol Kulesha says Haida Gwaii needs to deliver loud message to Canada Post
By George T. Baker
The Daily News
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Page one

Queen Charlotte City Mayor Carol Kulesha's relationship with Canada Post is still left wanting.
After more than two weeks of trying to find out how the Queen Charlotte Islands can ensure that it will receive Xpress mail service, Kulesha is going no where fast.

So she has taken to petitioning the whole QCI for support in her endeavor to get back next-day service.

"We are very unhappy with the situation and we are putting a letter together to send to Canada Post CEO (Moya Greene) and send it off to the federal minister of transportation," said Kulesha, who said she would be approaching both Haida band councils and the Council of the Haida Nation to join other municipalities on the QCI on a joint letter to inform Canada Post of the seriousness of their concerns.

Citing two airline services as being capable of returning the service back to QCI, Kulesha asked, if Air Canada had cancelled its agreement with Canada Post, why didn't the postal service look into the possibility of working with Pacific Coastal airlines.

"The truth is, we have two major airlines that come over to the Charlottes. We have Air Canada and Pacific Coastal," said Kulesha.

"Canada Post told me they only come in three times a week and I said 'no, they don't come in one of the week days and one of the weekend days but other than that, they are landing in Masset everyday,'" said Kulehsa.

The postal service decided last month that it would not continue its Xpress service for the QCI because of the cancellation of an agreement with Air Canada to haul cargo from Vancouver to the Charlottes.

Canada Post said at the time it was not cost-effective to run the service for the QCI, even though it would effectively cut off businesses and municipalities from getting their mail sent as expeditiously as possible.

"They are supposed to supply a service to all of Canada and last time I checked we were on that map and maybe it's one of those things that its cheaper to send things from point A to point B in Vancouver than in the Charlottes but Haida Gwaii is part of Canada," said Kulesha.