Ardmore and Fort Kent mailboxes could get more protection

An often thieved site in the rural area of the M.D. may get more protection soon.

The M.D. of Bonnyville will write a letter to Lakeland MP Shannon Stubbs and Fort McMurray-Cold Lake MP David Yurdiga asking Canada Post to replace the mailboxes in Ardmore and Fort Kent, with updated, more secure boxes.

The mailboxes have been broken into several times over the last few months.

“I have to applaud the residents who came forward with the issue,” said Reeve Greg Sawchuk on The Morning After.

“They talked to the RCMP as well. They talked to our MP. Sometimes you get more action from a number of residents putting in a complaint than you will get from a municipality just sending in a letter, but in this case, we felt it was necessary to back up those folks and express our concern to the MP and to Canada Post.

“From what I understand is that there are upgrades that can be done to those boxes to make them less of a target.”

Bonnyville and Cold Lake RCMP detachments have tracked the amount of mail theft in the past calendar year.

In 2020 alone, there have been at least six reports of mail theft from Fort Kent and Ardmore this year alone, of 34 total complaints from each detachment.

Council made the motion on Dec. 2 to ask federal representatives for more secure mailboxes.