Rural communities win moratorium on post office closures

The federal Conservatives last month quietly announced a Canadian postal Service Charter in an attempt to calm rural residents’ discontent with their public post­al service in the run-up to a possible election.

A two page, 20-point Ser­vice Charter mostly reiterates existing policy and announces that the government will main­tain a moratorium on rural post office closures. It also intro­duces an obligation to inform and consult with people at least one month prior to closing, moving, or amalgamating their public post office or changing their method of delivery.

A moratorium has existed since 1994 that protects ap­proxi­mately 3,800 public post offices in rural and small one-post-office towns.

Canada Post stated the corporation will maintain the 1994 moratorium on post office closures as per the charter, but the actual charter mentions only rural post offices and does not say anything about main­taining the 1994 moratorium protection of small one-post-office towns.

"It looks like rural and small communities get to keep their public post offices and that all our hard work has paid off, not to mention the incredible work done by hundreds of com­munities," said CUPW (Cana­dian Union of Postal Workers) national president Denis Lem­elin.

CUPW has nevertheless taken the precaution of writing to Rob Merrifield, minister re­sponsible for Canada Post, to make sure that the govern­ment’s charter does what Canada Post claims it does vis-a-vis small one-post-office towns. The union has also asked Canada Post for the list of the post offices that are cov­ered by the moratorium.

The community outreach and consultation section of the Service Charter is also a step in the right direction according to CUPW, but could be strength­ened.

"One month notice is enough notice to return library books, but hardy enough time for a whole community to dis­cuss a public post office closure," said Lemelin.

CUPW has contacted the minister’s office to seek clari­fication about the Service Charter. Many of CUPW’s 56,000 members deliver to, and belong to, small one post office towns.