(Photo credit: Adam Berls/CKPGtoday.ca Staff)

By Adam Berls

rural post offices

Northern B.C. MP calling on feds to end rural post office closures

Jun 20, 2023 | 2:56 PM

PRINCE GEORGE — A Northern BC MP is calling on the federal government to end the closure of rural post offices.

Post offices are lifelines for many communities across this country and provide many services for Canadians and for rural communities, the post office is much more than a place where you send and receive mail.

” Rural post offices are a lifeline for lots of folks in remote communities. It’s how people obviously get the mail, but also receive things like medication through the Postal Service. Stay in touch with family. It’s really an important federal service. And unfortunately, what we’re seeing is the erosion of that service in so many parts of the country.” – Taylor Bachrach, MP, Skeena-Bulkley Valley (NDP)

MP for Skeena-Bulkley Valley Taylor Bachrach and MP for Courtenay-Alberni Gord Johns spoke in the House of Commons to demand an end to the underfunding and closures of rural post offices. The Minister of Public Services and Procurement Helena Jaczek, responded by saying that Canada Post operates at an arms-length from the government.

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“Canada Post is evolving to meet the changing customer needs and expectations. There is a top priority in keeping its employees and in the communities that it serves, and it will continue to serve Canadians with a service that they can rely on.” – Helena Jaczek, Federal Minister of Public Services and Procurement

Back in 2015, Manson Creek, a rural community northwest of Mackenzie was at risk of losing their post office and reduced postal services. Other communities like Atlin and Telegraph Creek have also had to face the possibilities of losing their post office and its services.

“There’s a mandate broadly at the federal level that Canada Post services should pay for themselves, and I don’t think that that’s a reasonable expectation in sparsely populated rural Canada. So we need to think about these more like essential services similar to health care and basic transportation, and provide them to rural residents so that they can enjoy the benefits of these services.” – Taylor Bachrach, MP, Skeena-Bulkley Valley (NDP)

In 1994, the government put a moratorium on closing rural post offices, but Bachrach says that now responsibilities for postal services falls onto the local communities and that the governments needs to recommit to preserving rural postal services.

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Twitter: @AdamBerls

Email:Adam.Berls@pattisonmedia.com