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M41 news@theotherpress.ca

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Canada Post returns to addresses

» Controversial community mailbox plan scrapped amid controversy

Mercedes Deutscher
News Editor
MS news@theotherpress.ca

anada Post will be

backtracking on a decision
made in December 2013 to
convert door-to-door mail
service to community mailboxes.

The decision was announced : s
- eg

by Canada Post CEO Deepak

Chopra on October 26 that the
project had been scrapped. The
decision came as a result of the

new Liberal majority government :

being elected, as they ran ona
campaign promise to restore
the door-to-door service.
“We are committed to
implementing our platform
and the details outlined within
it, including those focusing
on Canada Post,” Liberal
Party spokesperson Cameron
Ahmad told the Toronto Star.
Although not asked to
directly by either Justin Trudeau
or the Liberal Party, Chopra
took it upon himself to stop the
project. Mail delivery to 300,000

es,
Eo [
a

at

ae ae
eT aa] Sires
ee

: Canadian addresses had already
: transferred to community boxes,
: some converting mere hours

: before the announcement.

The move to switch over

: to community mailboxes

: nationwide was expected to save
: Canada Post $500,000 per year,

: according to the Toronto Star,

: and would have affected 32 per

: cent of Canadians, mainly those
: who reside in larger cities.

The reasons behind

originally converting the door-

: to-door service to community
: mailboxes came from the

: significant boom in electronic
: correspondence, resulting

: ina decline of 1.4 billion

: pieces of mail since 2006.

‘A project of this magnitude

: cannot be measured in hours or
: one week or one day,” Chopra

: said to the Toronto Star. “It’s, as
: I mentioned, a long planning

: cycle with equipment and

: restructuring and employee

: impact. So we have to do it

: ina way that is respectful to

: making sure that the service
: remains. That’s job one.”

Although reversing the

: decision 22 months later

: was frustrating to many,

: Chopra says that halting the
: project any sooner would

: have been impossible.

“That’s a ridiculous

: assertion,” counters Mike

: Palecek, President of the

: Canadian Union of Postal

: Workers, to the Toronto Star. “It

   

anadapost.com

: would have taken a phone call to
: tell people ‘just keep delivering

: as normal. Instead they wanted
: to rush through the cuts.”

The Canadian Union of

: Postal Workers had filed a

: lawsuit against Canada Post

: earlier in the year because of the

> conversion, since some postal

: workers would find themselves

: without a job once the conversion
: would have completed. The

: lawsuit gained the support

of several municipalities,

: including Montreal. The city’s

: mayor, Denis Coderre, used a

: jackhammer on the base of a

: community mailbox to show his
: support for the postal workers.

Coderre suggested to

: CBC that the lawsuit could

: be dropped should the door-

: to-door service be officially

: restored. He said on the day of
: the Canada Post announcement:
: “.. Clearly we have to have a

: truce—because you have to

: be vigilant with Canada Post,

: we never know. They say one

: thing and then the next day,

: who knows what happens.”

 

Are hot dogs causing cancer?

» New study from WHO declares preservative meats cause colon cancer

Aaron Guillen
Staff Reoorter

nan average day, one

might wake up and grab
a BLT at a local coffee shop,
pick up a burger at a nearby
fast food restaurant for lunch,
and, at night, indulge in a plate
of spaghetti and meatballs.
Compared to the average
consumer, it might not seem
like a death sentence, but many
are increasing their chances
of cancer in the not-so-distant
future.

The World Health
Organization (WHO) recently
revealed a study that states that
preservative meats may cause
colon cancer. In the report,
the International Agency for
Research on Cancer (IARC)
uncovered how carcinogenic
certain types of meat were. Ona
scale of 1-5—1 having the most
evidence to link it to cancer—
meats like hot dogs, pepperoni,
and bacon received a rating
of 1, alongside cancer-causers
like tobacco and asbestos. The
severity of carcinogens present

: in any meat product depends on
: what is used to preserve it and
: how it is prepared.

Firstly, processed meat has

: either been cured, smoked,

: salted, or had chemicals such as
: sodium nitrate injected into it to
: preserve its former state. Most

: people question the chemicals

: inserted, but science has proven
: that as long as consumers are

: conscious of their consumption,
: they won't have much to worry

: about. In fact, sodium nitrate

: is found in most vegetables,

: including spinach, beets,

: carrots, and celery.

“According to a 2009

: study, approximately 80 per

: cent of dietary nitrates in a

: person’s diet are obtained

: from vegetable consumption,”

: claimed HealthLine Networks,

: a privately owned provider

: of health information for

: healthcare providers and health
: plans. Unfortunately, too high

: of an intake has the potential to
: cause colon cancer.

Secondly, the way any meat

is prepared affects how the

: body reacts to it. Foods that are
: broiled, grilled, or barbecued

: will have carcinogens present as
: they are digested. The buildup

: of such a dangerous byproduct

: is similar to that of cigarette

: smoke. For example, when

: roasting marshmallows over a

: fire, sometimes they will catch

: on fire and transform the outer
: layer into a crunchy texture with
: a smoky flavor; that taste might
: hold a grim future if enough of
: them are consumed.

WHO has painted dire

: circumstances, presumably

: in the hopes of discouraging

: the consumption of processed

: meat products. However, just as
: tobacco is addictive, the taste

: of meat similarly mimics this as
: well.

The Canadian Cancer

: Society said to CTV that “based
: on the most recent evidence,

: adults should try to limit red

: meat to three servings per week.
: Taking into account the size of

: one serving, youre looking at

: a little smaller than a deck of

: cards.”

  

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