Darwin Hoimyr predicts the federal government will close more post offices in rural Canada if residents don’t complain to their MPs.
As the head of the union representing postmasters in Saskatchewan, he said it is about more than saving jobs for the union’s 700 members. It is about saving a rural lifestyle and preserving what is often the only federal presence in a community.
He said the Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association had asked Canada Post to reopen a post office in the town of Balgonie, Sask.
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The office had been closed in 1993 but since then the town and nearby rural municipality have been steadily growing. Canada Post agreed the population is increasing, but said 1,569 residents was still too few.
Hoimyr said when Canada Post first told the union that 750 post offices might be closed across Canada, the union thought about 135 could be in Saskatchewan.
“After Canada Post told us that a community of nearly 1,600 people was too small to warrant a post office, we are not sure if any of our rural communities in Saskatchewan are safe any more.”
There are 450 rural post offices in Saskatchewan and a third of those are on a list facing review by the corporation.
Hoimyr said farmers should contact their MPs and say they want to keep the service and the jobs.
“They’ve actually got a very profitable crown corporation” that in 2003 made $250 million.
“They certainly don’t need to close the post offices on economic grounds,” he said.
Canada Post spokesperson Teresa Williams said the federal crown corporation is required to operate as a business, not as a burden to taxpayers.
“Even though we are making a profit, these are quite small when compared to the total costs of operation. We haven’t had a loss in nine or 10 years but if we do we have to carry it. When profitable we do provide funds to the federal government, who is our sole shareholder.”
Williams also said that 70 percent of all Canadian post offices are located in rural communities but these only bring in 20 percent of Canada Post’s revenue.
She said there are no specific policies about how big a town must be to have a post office. She said Canada Post reviews the offices to see if they are in the right location, if they are profitable and if there is someone willing to take over when a postmaster retires.
The union said that the potential closures fly in the face of a federal government moratorium issued in 1994. Then the minister responsible for Canada Post, David Dingwall said: “as long as this government is in power, no rural or small town post offices will close.”
From 1986-94 before the ban, about 1,500 rural post offices were closed in Canada, including 214 in Saskatchewan.
