Canada Post strike creates 'critical and precarious situation' for northern Manitoba First Nations: chiefs
Leaders calling for end to strike as some remote communities wait on deliveries of essentials like medicine
First Nation leaders in Manitoba are calling for an immediate resolution to the Canada Post strike, saying some remote and isolated communities are missing out on deliveries of critical supplies like medicine and payments as the job action drags onto its fourth week.
During a First Nations leadership summit in Winnipeg on Wednesday, Bunibonibee Cree Nation Chief Richard Hart said the strike has had a "tremendous impact" on his isolated community, about 600 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, where Canada Post is the only delivery service that flies in.
Some vital cheque payments, including child tax benefits, old age pensions, and injury compensation settlements, have been stuck since the start of the strike, he said.
"It has a direct impact on whether or not you could feed your family or provide for your family," said Hart.
Garrison Settee, grand chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, which represents 26 First Nations in northern Manitoba — including Bunibonibee — said the strike has created a "critical and precarious situation for numerous individuals and families," especially in remote communities.
That includes affecting the registration process for some newborns with Indigenous Service Canada — a requirement for the child's medical services — since documents need to be mailed from the band office to the federal agency, said Hart.
Bunibonibee has been left to find "creative ways" to get medication shipped to its nursing station, including working directly with providers and using private airline services, even though that costs significantly more and "takes a lot of co-ordination to make it happen," Hart said.
Before the strike, Canada Post would sort and mail a shipment of parcels to the northern Manitoba community daily.
"It's a tremendous burden, it's a tremendous hardship for a lot of people, and it has been going on too long," said Hart.
"We just need the postal service to resume as soon as possible," agreed Keewatin Tribal Council Grand Chief Walter Wastesicoot.
Nine of the council's 11 communities are remote and lack all-weather roads. Canada Post is their primary way to get essentials like medications, parcels and bill payments, he said.
"The communities in the south have different couriers that can deliver, pick up packages, and make sure they get to their destination. We don't have that luxury in the north," said Wastesicoot.
Mailing parcels through commercial airlines is the only other option, but their service is weather-dependent and more expensive, he said.
The postal strike is also impacting the delivery of presents ordered ahead of Christmas.
Wayne Okemow, a resident of Gods Lake Narrows, flew to Winnipeg to do his Christmas shopping after the strike halted the delivery of parcels ordered online to his northern Manitoba community, about 550 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.
But that's not a cheap option.
"The plane costs lots — close to 600 bucks one way," said Okemow.
The halt in the delivery of parcels has had one positive effect, according to Bunibonibee's Chief Hart — there has been a reported decrease in illicit drugs entering the community since the strike began, he said.
"A lot of people have not been able to use that as a way to bring in contraband into the community," said Hart. "I guess [that's] the only good thing."
AFN wants 'immediate resolution'
The strike by more than 55,000 employees with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers began on Nov. 14, and the two sides remain far apart on key issues.
The union said its latest proposals included wage increases below what was previously demanded, with wage demands totalling 19 per cent over four years. Canada Post says its own recent proposal offered 11.5 per cent over four years.
The Assembly of First Nations has joined calls for the two parties and the federal government to reach "an immediate resolution" and restore "critical services" to First Nations.
Many isolated communities have no alternative system for the delivery of basic goods to "maintain their well-being," National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said in a statement.
"The increased costs and delays caused by the strike are creating challenges for small First Nations businesses already navigating economic barriers to their success," Woodhouse Nepinak said.
In a statement to CBC News, the federal government said it is urging both sides to reach a negotiated agreement at the bargaining table.
However, federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon told reporters Wednesday that while Canadians are fed up with the strike, it's up to the two parties to make a deal.
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With files from Josh Crabb and The Canadian Press