In its 74 years of history, the Western Producer has only twice missed publishing a scheduled issue.
The paper has survived world wars, a collapsed roof due to a storm, raging blizzards and a power outage caused by an electrocuted crow.
In the fall of 1994, our staff went on strike as part of a Saskatchewan Wheat Pool and Grain Services Union labor dispute. Yet the paper still came out.
The only times we have not had a paper in the last decade were due to labor disruptions by outside forces that directly affect us. The first time was Oct. 25, 1990, when the printing company M. C. Graphics was on strike.
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The second time was this year, when our Nov. 27 issue was not published because Canada Post was on strike.
The decision to cancel an isssue was not made lightly. It is frustrating for our readers, advertisers and staff. We really wanted to continue providing the quality service our customers expect.
Unfortunately, we depend heavily on Canada Post and its monopoly over mail delivery in this country. We were unable to pursue alternate delivery systems during the strike – not without huge expense and the risk of missing a large number of our customers.
In previous strikes, we used Saskatchewan Wheat Pool elevators to help deliver the newspaper. With fewer elevators in the province, and more subscriptions going beyond Saskatchewan’s borders, it was not an option this time. Too few of our subscribers would have benefited from this type of delivery.
We published some stories on the internet, but did not publish classified ads because too few of our subscribers have internet access.
We’re happy to be serving you once again. Thank you for your patience.
