Canada's postal system is a gold mine of financial and personal information. Through it passes cash, cheques, gifts and documents that mail thieves can use to steal identities like bank and credit card statements, government documents and pre-approved credit applications.

Lionel Hondier knows the risks of that information falling into the wrong hands all too well. In the spring of 2006, thieves stole Hondier's tax return -- right out of the mail box near his Vancouver home.

Using information from the tax return -- his social insurance number, date of birth, address and yearly income -- thieves emptied Hondier's bank account and went on a spending spree with fake credit cards.

Though Hondier's bank replaced the money in his account, the personal cost of the identity theft was enormous. The bank closed Hondier's account whenever there was a breach but thieves still managed to get into his new accounts. Over two and a half years, the bank opened and closed Hondier's accounts five times.

Not only that -- bill collectors started to pester Hondier for unpaid debts on accounts opened by the thieves. Virtually every spare moment was spent trying to clean up the mess that the identity thieves were leaving.

"You try to work hard to make a living and to raise your family to do whatever you have to do to pay all your expenses, and these guys, they just live off of you -- parasites," Hondier told W-FIVE.

Two men were charged and convicted with fraud,but they only spent a few months in custody. Despite those convictions, Hondier's personal information remained in the hands of unknown identity thieves and his bank accounts continued to be emptied.

The Vancouver Police Department's Identity Theft Task Force is used to seeing cases like Hondier's. For the past five years they've dealt with a virtual epidemic of mail theft and identity fraud.

"It's not uncommon for us to put people in jail for the third or fourth time," said the Identity Theft Task Force's Det. Ken Athans.

At one point, Vancouver-area police were facing as many as 20 to 30 break-ins of mail boxes a week. Over the course of one year alone, Canada Post had more than 1,000 reported cases of mail theft in the Vancouver area.

All of which has led Vancouver to be called the mail theft capital of Canada. But mail theft happens in every corner of the country.

During the last four years, the Ontario Provincial Police have broken up two gangs of mail thieves operating in the Toronto area. In the most recent case, thieves broke into mail boxes located in industrial areas.

"The suspects would pull up to a mailbox, get out, and pry the face of the mailbox, empty the contents of that mailbox," Det. Kevin Connor, who led the OPP investigations, explained. "And then -- into a garbage bag, into the car, and away they would go."

These thieves weren't looking to steal identities -- they were looking for cheques.

The gang had an elaborate system of fake bank accounts and front men to cash the cheques. .

During the few months that Det. Connor and his investigators watched, the group made more than $1 million in illicit money. A lucrative payoff, considering the light sentences the two gang members received. Charged with 27 counts of fraud and possession of stolen property, they pled guilty to 10 counts. Their sentence -- house arrest for six months.

With mail theft and identity fraud becoming more sophisticated, serious questions have been raised about Canada Post's ability to protect the mail.

After 10 years of warnings, Canada Post has only recently undertaken to change the old locks on its mailboxes -- a process they admit will take years to complete.

'Strict security protocols,' says Canada Post

W-FIVE's investigation also found that Canada Post has had difficulty keeping track of mail thefts. That includes thefts by their own employees and sub-contactors.

In 2004, Roger Edwards delivered the mail to small towns near Fergus, Ontario. While on the job he stole cash, CDs, DVDs and almost $30,000 in cheques.

Anyone handling the mail is supposed to be security screened. But Edwards was hired despite having a criminal record.

Edwards told W-FIVE that when he got the mail delivery job, no one asked if he had any criminal convictions. Not the contractor, Bell Cartage, who hired Edwards, and surely not Canada Post. Bell Cartage declined to comment on the Edwards case.

W-FIVE asked Canada Post about how this could happen. Mary Traversy,

Senior Vice President of Operations said, "We have strict security protocols -- contractors who do business with us sign contracts that state clearly that they'll make sure that any subcontractor or anyone they hire will be able to meet those security hurdles."

But in the case of Roger Edwards, Canada Post's policy of letting outsiders vet employees didn't work. Other indications show that internal theft is a problem at Canada Post. According to their own statistics, nearly half of all mail theft in Canada is committed by Canada Post employees, contractors or subcontractors. That's extremely high when compared to the United States, where only about 12 per cent of mail theft is internal.

And when it comes to a comparison with the United States, Canada Post also lacks the broad range of enforcement capabilities available to the U.S. Postal Service. U.S. Postal Inspectors are sworn federal officers who aggressively police any crimes involving the post, with full powers to lay charges and make arrests.

But while mail and identity thieves are bilking Canadians out of millions of dollars, Canada Post's inspectors are limited to making citizen's arrests. They turn to outside police forces for help with investigations and to lay charges.

"We can't lay charges under the Criminal Code. We can make arrests and we do conduct a lot of investigations internally, but we do bring in the authorities when it's a time to place a criminal charge," said Traversy.

Ontario Provincial Police Det. Kevin Connor says police are always happy to help, but they don't have the resources to police the mail. He'd like to see Canada Post's Security and Investigation Services given more power.

"If you look at the Postal Act and the differences between the Canada and United States, it's like night and day," said Connor.

Deputy Postal Inspector Zane Hill of the U.S. Postal Service told W-FIVE, "We couldn't do it unless we had the full scope of law enforcement authorities to make arrests, to carry firearms, to serve subpoenas, to engage in all the other technical aspects of law enforcement like surveillances and wire taps."

When W-FIVE asked Canada Post if they'd like some of the powers available to the U.S. Postal Service, Mary Traversy answered, "I think we're comfortable with the powers that we have."

W-FIVE put the same question to the Federal Minister responsible for Canada Post -- Minister of State for Transport, Rob Merrifield.

"They have the ability, actually the authority and responsibility to be able to keep Canada Post as secure as they possibly can," said Merrifield.

While both the Minister and Canada Post appear satisfied with the level of Canada's mail security, Lionel Hondier wishes more was being done. He and his family are

still cleaning up the mess that resulted from one very important piece of their mail being stolen.

"It's more than your mail. They steal part of your life. They invade your life. And they don't get out of your life so easily," Hondier warns.