This week, news came down that Canada Post were cutting their Saturday service in King’s Point.
Let me be the first to tell you that I had no idea the post office was ever open on Saturdays in King’s Point. I’ve never been in King’s Point on a Saturday when a visit to the Post Office was required, I suppose.
However, it seems that Saturday service is something that’s always been in that community – and there’s really nothing wrong with that on the surface, and kudos to those who availed of the opportunity to buy stamps on the weekend.
Recently, though, Canada Post announced that they’re closing several offices in the rural parts of the country on Saturdays from now on, in an effort to, I assume, save a bit of cash in the long run.
Again – nothing wrong with that either, is there? I mean, when a Government department says they’re going to try and save a bit of money, isn’t that a good thing?
Well, not for many, it seems.
A group known as the CPAA immediately came out against the cuts. The CPAA is the bargaining agent for the workers in the affected post offices, and they feel the cuts are unnecessary and a sign that Canada Post is trying to shut down rural Canada (its nice to know we’re not the only ones rural in this country, isn’t it?) by removing postal services altogether.
It was an interesting argument – one worth investigating at least. So a call to the mayor of King’s Point was made, and the question was posed as to what he thought of the whole situation. Obviously, I expected cries of foul, conspiracy, and want of pity because his town was losing the Saturday service. In fact, I had my pen ready to dictate a tirade on Canada Post and the Federal Government of epic proportions.
What came next, though, was refreshing.
The mayor was indifferent to the closing of the post office on Saturdays. In fact – he seemed like he couldn’t care less on a personal level. So then he went to his council, and in turn the town, and put out the feelers on whether or not they should be concerned about this. The reaction? “Who cares?”
Now, you think, why were the mayor and the council, and in fact, the people of the town wrapped up in this line of thinking? Simple: they knew the need of the office open on Saturdays was a wasted expenditure, and thus, it made more sense to close it, than keep it open.
That right there, is a testament to good governance.
The fact of the matter is, no matter who you find in Government, there are going to be cuts. Some are going to be stupid, and for those we should fight for. Others are going to make sense, and we should just accept them.
It’s all about picking your battles.
Now if we can just get the price of stamps lowered, we’d be doing alright.
—Rudy Norman
