With the Canada Post strike in its fourth week, Inuit and First Nations communities in remote areas are disproportionately feeling the strain.
For many of these communities, Canada Post is a vital service delivering essential goods including medical supplies and cheques.
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President Natan Obed told CBC’s Power and Politics last week Inuit communities are entirely dependent on Canada Post as the only provider of mail and parcel delivery.
“We don’t have other options,” he said.
“UPS, FedEx, Purolator, all of these services, if they’re available at all, they flow through arrangements with Canada Post. We’re effectively cut off.”
He said southern Canadians don’t understand the remote nature of Inuit communities, noting 49 of 51 Inuit communities are only accessible by plane.
Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, tells Power & Politics that without Canada Post services there is ‘no way of moving goods and services through our communities in a timely and expedient fashion.’ Obed says the ITK is calling for immediate federal intervention to resolve the postal strike.
He said there is a lack of political urgency around resolving the strike.
“If there was any sense that this could create a medical emergency … in an urban centre, that would be national news and it would dominate the political conversations within the House of Commons,” he said.
On Tuesday, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) issued a statement urging Canada Post, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and the federal government to reach a resolution to the strike.
AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak highlighted the effect of the postage delays on remote First Nations, especially in receiving crucial medical supplies.
“Many of our citizens rely entirely on Canada Post for access to prescription medications, medical equipment, and health-care supplies that are not otherwise available,” said Woodhouse Nepinak in the statement.
“Without these resources, individuals, elders, and families are left without the support they depend on and could experience unnecessary health risks.”
Woodhouse Nepinak said in the statement that First Nations entrepreneurs who rely on Canada Post as a shipping option are also affected.
“The increased costs and delays caused by the strike are creating challenges for small First Nations businesses already navigating economic barriers to their success,” she said in the statement.
Labour minister ‘not contemplating’ intervention
Federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon told reporters Tuesday the mediator in the dispute between CUPW and Canada Post hasn’t yet indicated that mediation is able to resume, as the parties are “very far apart.”
He said this distance was “highly disrespectful of Canadians who are suffering through this work stoppage… small businesses, people in rural, remote communities who rely on Canada Post and its services,” adding that the two parties need to “knuckle down.”
So far he hasn’t indicated the federal government would step in.
“These are negotiations that have to be concluded between the parties,” said MacKinnon.
“I’m not contemplating an intervention.”
