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•T h e IF P • H alto n H ills, Thursday, January 16, 2014 13 6 MONTHS • NO INTEREST • NO PAYMENTS - AVAILABLE OPEN7 DAYS AWEEK 265 GuElPh St., GEOrGEtOWN 905-873-2753 2013 Floor Model Clearance NEW ART IN STORE NOW Continued from pg. 3 "That was really the most irritating fac- tor-- not having any information regard- ing when regular service might resume long after other public and private sector services had returned to normal," said Taylor. Heslop Cr. resident Joan Brown said she was without mail delivery for more than three weeks. She said it didn't affect her greatly, "other than the nuisance factor." "I was really surprised that's how management decided to handle it," said Brown. Noble Cr. resident Alice Brand said they didn't have mail delivery for more than two weeks. She said when they went to the post office they were told their letter carrier was on leave and that their mail hadn't been sorted. "I think there are obviously problems in the post office," said Brand. "It's evident they're just not doing their jobs." Canada Post Media Relations Manager Carley Smith said, "Canada Post has ex- perienced some delivery delays on a few routes over the past couple of weeks due to extreme weather conditions, absentee- ism and challenges in hiring relief staff. She said the mail route of the residents was covered by a relief carrier between Dec. 27 and Jan. 3. " The carrier concentrated on parcels and signature items over Boxing Day week and mail was delivered every other day during that period. All Georgetown routes have been fully operational and fully staffed since last Wednesday," said Smith. A statement posted to the Crown cor- poration's website Jan. 10 said that when mail delivery is affected by extreme weather conditions, such as December's ice storm, Canada Post will notify local media, as well as post notices to its web- site and Twitter account. The alert system is currently being used in Newfoundland and Labrador, where weather is making deliveries diffi- cult in some areas, said Hamilton. The alerts to the media will follow a two-tiered system. The statement said a Red Alert will be used to indicate that no delivery will be made that day due to the weather, while a Yellow Alert will mean that delivery is being attempted, but some addresses on the route may still go with- out mail. - With files from Torstar News Service Mail delivery delays were a 'nuisance' say affected local residents A Centennial Middle School student got a close-up view of the day-to-day op- erations of the Ontario government during his recent month-long stint as a page at Queen's Park. Jeffery Howson, 13, of Georgetown was in one of three groups of 20 Grade 8 stu- dents who delivered messages and fetched water for Members of Provincial Parlia- ment over a four-week period just before Christmas. Howson was stationed in the House, performing his duties through Question Period, routine proceedings and Orders of the Day. "Just to be able to experience being so close to where they're making laws and do- ing the other business of the province was a great learning experience," said Howson, whose mother Andrea served as a page on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in her Grade 12 year. Several hundred Grades 7-8 students applied for the page position and were re- quired to write a 750-word essay on why they'd be a good candidate. Once selected, Howson said the first day of orientation was a little overwhelming as the pages were told they'd have to memorize the names of all 107 MPPs, their ridings and political party affiliations, as well as extensive in- struction in proper etiquette in the House. "We were told to never run, but walk swiftly and never make it seem that you're rushed," he added. "We also had to know where everyone's offices were in the building, so I'm quite familiar with the inside of Queen's Park now." Howson was given homework by his Centennial teachers and the page program has a teacher on-site who conducted math and other subject lessons so the students wouldn't fall behind in their studies. He stayed with a family friend in To- ronto and took the subway to Queen's Park each day, which began with a briefing for all pages at 8 a.m. Howson also had lunch with Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Ar- nott one day and by the end of his assign- ment was a keen observer of the goings-on in the Legislative Building. "I'm not sure what I want to do yet, but after this experience, I'm a little more in- clined to follow a career in politics." Queen's Park Page experience is eye-opening for local boy By EAMONN MAHER Staff Writer JEFFERY HOWSON