National postal strike causing local stress for active living centre

A Steinbach active living centre says it’s difficult to mail bills or collect payments to fund its programs as Canada Post workers walk off the job across the country, protesting federal reforms.

Audrey Harder, executive director for Pat Porter Active Living Centre, said the strike caught the non-profit unprepared, causing “panic” for some seniors. The charity offers seniors programming, including meal delivery and and transportation. Almost all of the people the non-profit serves pay by mailing checks, she said.

“It can be quite the challenge for us here,” Harder said. “Every time that there was a (strike) threat, a little bit of a threat, or conversation about it, we started to plan, and then this time, it just happened.”

During the previous strike in November and December 2024, she said they were able to make adjustments, such as delivering bills and letters or accept checks in-person, because there was advance notice. She said her team is quickly working to develop a plan to ensure funding is stable and programming won’t change despite the lack of mail services.

She said many seniors saw mail as a trusted, reliable service and aren’t comfortable using the internet or email. But following the service disruptions, many seniors are left with little means for communicating or sending payment, Harder said.

“If you don’t understand or are capable (of accessing the internet), that can be very scary because it’s just a loss of ability to do something else that you were able to do,” she said, adding that some seniors lose their independence when they can’t send a letter.

Federal government transformation minister Joël Lightbound laid out new measures on Sept. 25 to modernize the Crown corporation and address shrinking letter volumes and rising debt.

The measures include introducing flexible rates and delivery timelines and converting all addresses that receive door-to-door delivery to community mailboxes. The reforms also lift a 1994 moratorium on rural post office closures that covers 4,000 locations. The move could see post offices in rural areas that are now considered suburban or urban closed.

Since 2018, Canada Post has accrued more than $5 billion in losses and loses roughly $10 million per day, Lightbound said in a statement. Letter deliveries, which peaked at 5.5 billion 20 years ago, have now fallen to two billion, despite households growing, he said.

“This situation is unsustainable. Canada Post is effectively insolvent, and repeated bailouts are not a long-term solution,” he said, adding the government already injected $1 billion in January to keep the corporation afloat.

Following the federal announcement, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers launched a nation-wide strike later that evening, citing proper consultation didn’t happen with employees and the public when creating the modernization plan.

“We cannot accept this attack on good jobs and public services. Let’s now turn our efforts to making sure the government and Canada Post hear us loud and clear. We have done it before. We will do it again,” Jan Simpson, the union’s national president, said in a statement.

Shifting completely to community mailboxes may have a negative impact on people with mobility issues, said Harder. If the change goes ahead, sidewalks need to be clear of ice and accessible transportation needs to be available to help people get their mail, she said.

“It’s not going to affect me personally, but it’s going to affect people I know and I love,” Harder said. “We need to check in and just keep an eye on people, make sure we’re helping out, like go pick up the mail for somebody or go drop something off for somebody.”

Niverville Mayor Myron Dyck told The Carillon while there’s already many community mailboxes, the potential loss of the town’s post office would be disappointing.

“We’re looking to see services, at worst, remain, if not grow, as opposed to see services in our community go backwards or be lost,” he said.

But Dyck noted the corporation needs to be financially sustainable and be responsible with how much debt it takes on. He said Niverville wants to see fair value for services and hopes the new measures will bring stability to Canada Post.