Bill raises post office worries
OTTAWA – A flurry of petitions from rural areas pleading with the federal government to maintain existing rural post offices were tabled in the House of Commons last week.
Veteran Bloc Québécois MP Louis Plamondon presented five of the petitions from his rural voters.
The Conservative government had committed itself to do just that in September when it unveiled a charter that promised to continue the moratorium on rural post office closures first brought in by the Liberals in 1994.
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So why is there a petition movement in rural Canada on an issue the government says has been decided?
The concern has been prompted by Bill C-44, which aims to end Canada Post’s monopoly on sending mail abroad.
Critics complain that turning this profitable portion of the business over to private competitors will deprive Canada Post of revenue that it needs to keep rural mail delivery going.
Ontario New Democrat David Christopherson said the bill would make it difficult for the post office to continue its current level of service without subsidies, which are not allowed under its mandate.
“If we do this, Canada Post will be in a financial crunch,” he said.
“Canadians in British Columbia will not have the same service as those in downtown Toronto or the cost of postage will go way up or we will have to put in our budget every year, which we do not now, a sum of money that is dedicated to subsidizing Canada Post.”
Border meat inspections to be a surprise
CAMROSE – Advance notice of inspection will no longer be given for U.S. meat crossing the border into Canada.
Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials said the change takes effect Jan. 4 and is intended to increase meat inspection harmony with the United States.
All meat from the U.S. is inspected and certified by U.S. Department of Agriculture officials before it is exported to Canada.
Beginning in January, when a shipment has been presented for electronic release, the CFIA’s Import Service Centre will notify the Canada Border Services Agency if the shipment has been selected for an inland CFIA inspection.
A shipment identified as a skip lot will be allowed to proceed to its destination.
Nick Santangelo of the Western Hog Exchange said the surprise inspections may slow meat movement by a day or so but shouldn’t cause significant problems.
Honey of an idea
SASKATOON – The Saskatchewan girl who came up with the idea of putting creamed honey in tubes has a new market: Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Nicole Hein’s Tu-Bee Honey was also showcased at the Whistler Film Festival in Whistler, B.C., and in March will be featured as part of Agriculture Canada’s Ottawa museum display called Bees, A Honey of an Idea.
Hein, who founded Tu-Bees Honey in 2007 when she was 11 as a way to pay for a horse, said the Afghanistan connection came from a conversation at a craft fair with the mother of a Canadian soldier.
“She was buying a tube for her daughter in Afghanistan. We started talking because we wanted to get tubes over there. She gave us a contact there. That’s the only way you can get it over there without a delay. Now hopefully we’ll be sending a couple of cases of tubes over there soon.”
