The Grim Reaper took a break from her deathly duties yesterday to protest pending changes at Canada Post.

When asked why she decided to join a protest of approximately 30 postal workers outside the Malenfant Boulevard Canada Post mail processing plant, the cloaked figure slowly swung her scythe and uttered: “Job cuts. Death to jobs, death to the local economy.”

When not in costume and presiding over symbolic funeral processions at protests, the Grim Reaper is actually postal employee and union representative Louise Comtois. As her colleagues marched around the entrance into the Canada Post property yesterday, she explained that they’re trying to bring attention to changes being proposed by Canada Post.

“The biggest issue for us is job loss, but what goes along with that is service to the public,” she said. “We’re providing an excellent service right now, we’re beating Canada Post standards for mail delivery and now they want to truck it to Saint John, which to us is ludicrous.”

Canada Post plans to send letter mail to its Saint John facility starting in August, where it will be sorted by a machine. It’s currently being sorted manually in Dieppe.

Once sorted in Saint John, it will then return to Metro Moncton for delivery.

Canada Post says there will be absolutely no delay in people receiving their mail because it’s sorted in Saint John.

“There will be no impact to the level of postal service provided,” says spokeswoman Genevieve Latour.

She adds that no one will lose their job, either. Ten positions will eventually be eliminated, but through retirement or attrition.

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