Iqaluit teen who relies on Canada Post for medical equipment among those waiting for strike to end

Some northerners are anxious for the Canada Post strike to end soon — including Molly Hayward.

The 14-year-old from Iqaluit typically relies on Canada Post to deliver her glucose monitors and insulin pumps, equipment she needs to help manage her Type 1 diabetes. 

Molly's mother, Jen Hayward, calls it "incredibly frustrating."

The glucose monitor shows Molly's blood sugar levels, and the pump gives her insulin every three minutes. Every time she eats, her monitor gives her a reading that she can enter into the pump, and it will adjust levels accordingly. If her levels are too low, an alert warning is sent to her phone.

Jen says the equipment is extremely helpful. 

"Overall there's less of a health risk for her. Diabetics, Type 1 diabetics, if their blood sugars go too low, it's a very risky place to be. She can offset diabetic ketoacidosis, which can result in death and organ failure within hours," Jen said. 

Without the equipment, Molly would have to resort to more insulin injections, and have to wake through the night to check her blood sugar levels.

Molly said that worrying about her access to the needed equipment "is kind of like anticipatory anxiety." 

As of right now, the family is resorting to asking friends to ship the equipment to them via cargo, which is more costly, or else Jen buys them when she's in Yellowknife. The family's current supply will last less than two months, and they're unsure what they will do after that if the strike continues that long.

On Friday, federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said he was sending the labour dispute between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) to the Canada Industrial Relations Board. He said that if the board determines negotiations between the parties are at an impasse, it has been directed to order striking CUPW members back to work under the existing collective agreement until May 22, 2025.

That means postal service could resume "as early next week," MacKinnon said. 

Northern communities hit hard

The Canada Post strike began almost a month ago, and people in many northern and remote communities say they've been hit hard. 

Indigenous governments have called for the strike to end. Natan Obed, the president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), a national organization representing Inuit across Canada, said that Inuit communities need Canada Post.

"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."

Obed said that Canada Post should be considered an essential service.

"Right now, imagine if you live in a small community of 500 people and your one store doesn't stock a particular item that you need to care for your child, whether it's formula or any other essential item," he said.

"The only way that you are able to get that essential item to your family is to use Canada Post and to buy online or to have it shipped to your community." 

Mayor Wayne Gregory in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, says the strike has a big impact on people in his community.

"We are so remote," he said. "The only way in and out is by airline."

Gregory says shipping items by airline cargo is extremely expensive. The strike has forced the community to come together, he says, with people relying on others who travel for things like medical appointments to bring items back home with them.

"When they're coming back they'll ask, 'Is there anything we can bring to help assist?' because they can't receive anything in through Canada Post," he said.

"Everybody's helping as much as they can, wherever they can, and we're just waiting to see where things go from here."