Coderre Claims He ‘Made His Point’ By Removing Community Mailbox Base

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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In an emotion-driven episode, Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre recently stood up for his city by physically removing the concrete base for a community mailbox in Pierrefonds on Thursday. Coderre literally swung a jackhammer to the slab installed by Canada Post in Anse-à-l’Orme Park. According to a group of local mayors on Thursday morning, it was claimed that the Canada Post base in a Pierrefonds green space was built without consultation. In his remarks on Friday, Coderre confidently stated that “I didn’t cross the line that much.”

Canada Post is gradually phasing out door-to-door mail delivery service across Canada in favour of community mailboxes. The city of Montreal was among the first four municipalities to join the Canadian Union of Postal Workers’ lawsuit to prevent the action. Quite contrary to his body language on Thursday, the mayor defended his actions on Friday and said it was a political gesture. He alleged that “I think I made my point,” adding that “everywhere in Canada they know that Montreal stood for (its) people.”

It was highlighted that Canada Post is free to “install, erect or relocate” mailboxes in any public place or public roadway under the Mail Receptacles Regulations, which also claim that no person can “relocate or remove any receptacle or device” without “prior authorization” by Canada Post. A Toronto-based lawyer specializing in municipal law, John Mascarin, claims that Coderre was not entitled to remove the concrete slab because “the federal always, in my view, trumps the provincial or any subservient legislation.”