Canada Post media relations explained that a letter sent to Comox Valley residents in February was not considered "non-deliverable."
A letter was sent to many Valley residents on Feb. 6, about homelessness and the Comox Valley Regional District's Alternate Approval Process (AAP) vote on an emergency shelter and supportive housing land acquisition service and a homelessness support service in the Valley. The letter prompted numerous Letters to the Editor in The Record, with the majority disagreeing with the premise of the letter, and some calling it "disinformation."
"Taxpayer Alliance sending out misinformation and a hateful message through Canada Post, with no accountability or way to contact them, is abhorrent," one letter by Alyssa Christensen of the Comox Valley says.
The letter made claims about unhoused people in the Comox Valley "being transported here," which have been disproven multiple times by the Record and the Campbell River Mirror newspapers. Other claims included the idea that housing the homeless is a federal and provincial responsibility and that a $12 million shelter in Duncan has "destroyed the neighbourhood." The Record could find no evidence of the Duncan shelter, though Duncan was one town to receive part of a $12 million SPCA shelter in 2023. Also, A Duncan facility called "The Village" has been funded to the tune of $1.5 million per year for three years until 2027. A facility called the Warmland House Shelter was built in 2009, and opened in 2010. The capital costs of building that facility were $8.47 million.
According to the Warmland House website, the facility "provides transitional housing opportunities in the form of our 24 apartments. These are not landlord/tenancy rental agreements. Opportunities to secure apartment housing are based on commitment to a personal growth plan (Moving Forward Plan) developed in tandem with staff. Stable housing is part of any moving forward plan and part of an individual鈥檚 participation in Warmland鈥檚 (Moving Forward Plan Initiative)."
"Then CVTA offers up the idea that we are housing the homeless in an effort to destigmatize them," another letter from Diane Nakoshima says. "We are not trying to destigmatize being homeless. There should not be a stigma in the first place. We are trying to move towards basic human rights for all to have shelter."
Canada Post said in an email to The Record that "Canada Post鈥檚 practice is to deliver neighbourhood mail items unless they are non-mailable according to the Non-Mailable Matter Regulations under the Canada Post Corporation Act. The flyer in question does not meet the criteria set out in the Non-Mailable Matter Regulations, and therefore is deliverable".
Non-mailable matter includes illegal items, obscene material, or items that may not be imported or sent by mail. It also refers to items that could injure, damage or entrap people or postal equipment.
"We recognize that Canadians may have different views on many subjects, including controversial subjects," the email says. "However, it is not Canada Post鈥檚 role to act as the censor of mail or to determine the extent of freedom of expression in Canada."
The email also noted that people can opt out of receiving unaddressed mail at .
The letter was not signed, except with a line saying "brought to you by The Comox Valley Taxpayers Alliance."
The organizers of the noaap.ca website, which was campaigning to have people vote against the AAP and saying that the process was undemocratic, said that they did not write the letter.
A Facebook Page called "Comox Valley Taxpayers Alliance" exists, but it has been inactive since the 2018 municipal election.
