How worried should we be that northern post offices might close?

The federal government has lifted a moratorium that for decades prevented some northern post offices from closing. We wanted to know what that might mean in the North.

Some union members say they are worried about the fate of NWT post offices as the Canadian Union of Postal Workers’ latest strike continues, with the sides appearing far apart.

The strike is already hurting businesses in the North.

Fort Smith-based fur products company Aurora Heat said “our entire community is cut off” because no delivery services beyond Canada Post serve the town. Yellowknife Books warned of delays and said it could not ship to smaller communities until the strike is over.

The New York Times, meanwhile, reported from Fort Simpson on the Canada Post strike, describing its impacts on the Dehcho village.

While some job action like overtime bans had been going on for months, a full-blown strike began on September 25 after the federal government instructed Canada Post to make some major changes.

Those included gradually ending door-to-door letter mail in places where that still exists (most northerners haven’t had that for a decade or more, if ever) and lifting a decades-long moratorium – or pause – on the closure of rural post offices.

Last week, CUPW Prairies representative Roberta Mitchell circulated an email in which she suggested five NWT post offices “are under threat of closing” with the moratorium gone.

Mitchell pointed to a federal webpage that sets out which post offices were protected by the moratorium.

Fort Simpson, Fort Smith, Hay River, Inuvik and Yellowknife are on that list, though protection through the moratorium does not mean the moratorium was the only thing keeping each of those post offices from closing. There are other factors.

After several northerners forwarded Mitchell’s email to Cabin Radio and expressed concern, we asked three key players for comment: Canada Post itself, the CUPW, and a third union, the Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association or CPAA.

The CUPW did not respond to a request for comment, but Canada Post provided a statement and the CPAA’s president agreed to an interview.

Canada Post’s view

We asked Canada Post if it could tell us anything about its plans for post offices in the NWT, or describe how lifting the moratorium might affect operations at those five locations.

Phil Legault, a spokesperson for Canada Post, said the federal government had given the corporation 45 days to outline a plan that responds to its instructions on September 25.

“Until our plan is presented and reviewed by the government, we will not be providing details on any of the elements,” Legault stated.

But he did elaborate a little on the moratorium and how Canada Post will approach what happens without it.

“In 1994, to protect rural postal services, the government created a list of rural post offices that were off-limits to changes. This list has remained unchanged for 31 years,” Legault stated.

“The country has changed dramatically over the last 31 years, so many post offices that were once determined to be ‘rural’ are now in urban or suburban areas with other post offices in nearby stores and pharmacies. In these now-overserved areas, we need to update our retail network.

“This will allow us to continue in our commitment to protect the service for those who need it the most, most notably people living in rural, remote, northern and Indigenous communities.”

On the face of it, Legault’s statement appears to suggest that most if not all NWT post offices could expect to survive any coming changes, though he did not confirm as much.

Yellowknife does have multiple post offices aside from its main branch, but smaller northern communities don’t.

‘A lifeline’ in rural Canada

Dwayne Jones is the national president of the CPAA, which has about 8,500 members in more than 3,000 post offices across Canada.

It is Canada Post’s second-largest union behind the CUPW. The CPAA carries out bargaining separately and isn’t part of the strike.

CPAA members generally work in rural, isolated post offices, and those post offices remain open, Jones said, though with limited services as the strike has paralyzed the movement of mail.

In the NWT, Fort Simpson and Fort Smith are CPAA-staffed post offices. In Nunavut, the CPAA’s members operate post offices in Cambridge Bay, Kugluktuk, Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet.

Jones wants the federal government to give Canada Post 100 days to draw up a plan, rather than 45, to allow more voices from smaller communities to be heard.

“If Canada Post was to close a post office in a rural setting, that looks completely different than if you were in an urban centre where you could literally go five blocks down the street and pick up products and services that were similar,” Jones said.

He acknowledged that Canada Post is right to say some of the geography has changed in the past 30 years and some once-rural post offices are now suburban or urban.

“But the majority of our offices are in far more remote areas,” he said, “so it’s good to hear from Canada Post that they want to protect those and maintain it.”

Jones wants the outcome of Ottawa’s new instructions to Canada Post – and the strike, whenever the corporation and CUPW eventually reach a deal – to be that all Canadians “receive the same level of service, because Canada Post remains a lifeline, especially for those who live in rural Canada.”

“I would encourage everybody to make sure they’re reaching out through their MP to make sure they understand the importance of Canada Post and how it can impact their lives,” he said.

“There need to be some thoughtful processes applied when they’re looking at what it looks like in all areas, from coast to coast to coast.”