by Isobel Harry with files from Lori Thompson
GORE BAY—The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) Local 612 (Sudbury) will hold a meeting in Gore Bay on Saturday, September 6 to solicit input from the public on concerns about changes to Canada Post service and postal rate increases. A previous meeting, held July 5 in the Tehkummah Community Hall, was reported in The Expositor (July 9) and the Manitoulin West Recorder (July 11).
The Tehkummah meeting was hosted by CUPW to state its own position and to hear from the community, especially about the hiring of a new postmaster for Tehkummah, but also about the future of the postal service in rural communities since changes were announced by Canada Post in December 2013. About 20 concerned citizens attended to hear Dave Merrick, president of CUPW Local 612, union members Charlene Bradley and Phil Marsh, and Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing MP Carol Hughes.
The September meeting in Gore Bay is planned by Dave Merrick, who has been on the Local 612 executive since 1987, to be held at the Legion Hall. “The meeting we had planned for Gore Bay right after Tehkummah had to be rescheduled,” says Mr. Merrick, “because there were too many conflicting activities taking place then. Everybody was busy in the peak summer season. We hope the new date will bring more people out.”
The key, for Dave Merrick, is “to find out what people want from their post office, and from Canada Post. If Canada Post is stopping door-to-door deliveries, for example, perhaps stopping rural deliveries is in the future.” For him, “getting rid of the post office in a small village is how you get rid of communities.”
Mr. Merrick plans to present the union’s position, and the issues raised in Tehkummah, followed by a question and answer session. The union is looking for more input from the public to build a strong position from which to launch a petition for a response from Canada Post. Invitations to Canada Post for participation in these meetings, or for replies to correspondence, have gone unanswered.
He notes further that, “in random polls by unions, in newspapers and other surveys, 70 percent of respondents want the post office to stay the same.” It appears, however, that public opinion is not being considered by Canada Post. Paul Bowerman, a Tehkummah councillor, said at the previous meeting that “no one from Canada Post has ever come to talk to us” despite that township’s protests against the reduction of hours and loss of Saturday hours, and the signing of a petition by 151 people in March, “before the seasonal residents” had even returned. Gore Bay Mayor Ron Lane expressed concern about the closing of the town post office on Saturdays, also lamenting the lack of consultation and “direct dialogue” by Canada Post.
At the Tehkummah meeting, Carol Hughes said the NDP supports the idea of post offices providing banking service, where it’s proven profitable in New Zealand, Switzerland and in Britain and says, “we’re lobbying for it.” She believes, as does Mr. Merrick, that banking at the post office is “very positive” for small communities, where there might be a post office, but no bank. “It’s about service,” argued Ms. Hughes, “and about jobs and keeping them local.”
Because of an increase in online shopping, there’s been an increase in the number of parcels processed by post offices. Carol Hughes gave an example of a Timmins post office, where Canada Post “moved parcel pick up to the drug store and then they turn around and say the post office is not a viable business.” Mr. Merrick argues that Canada Post is cheaper, and already delivers for many companies such as UPS, Canpar and FedEx. “Why don’t we take that on ourselves? Canada Post already has mail carriers delivering on the same routes. With Canada Post in charge, universal service is guaranteed,” he continues, “but if it is privatized, who would service the Island?”
The frustration with the changes to Canada Post continues with the new central processing, and the fact that, come October, all mail from the Sudbury district will be sorted in Toronto. A letter from Little Current to Mindemoya, for example, will first go to Toronto for processing, potentially extending delivery time from one or two days to over a week.
The union wants “to keep post offices operating ‘as is’ with an increase in service, not costs, and for Canada Post to look seriously at returning to banking operations, as it did until 1967,” says Mr. Merrick.
Ms. Hughes was adamant that “we cannot just give up.” She has had “some success” on behalf of Kagawong and Little Current post offices, and with the hours and location of the Silver Water post office. She made a plea for citizens to get involved, and to send concerns and petitions to her for tabling in the House of Commons.
CUPW Local 612 invites the public to show support for local post offices by attending the meeting at the Legion Hall in Gore Bay, Saturday, September 6, from 10 am to noon.
