The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
A union representing rural postmasters is warning that the Denare Beach Post Office is in danger of closing. The Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association, CPAA, classifies the village post office as "at risk for future closure" along with 109 other Canada Post outlets in small Saskatchewan communities. "We are not sure if any of our rural communities in Saskatchewan are safe anymore," said Darwin Hoimyr, president of the CPAA Saskatchewan branch. Hoimyr, the postmaster in Carlyle in southeastern Saskatchewan, said Canada Post previously told the union that 750 offices across Canada were being considered for closure. Based on their size, CPAA compiled a list of outlets in Saskatchewan it believes are part of that figure. The union is now hoping residents and town councils will contact their MPs to help ensure their communities maintain postal branches. Denare Beach postmaster Laura Schanowski, who works out of Bayside Resort and Grocery, is keeping a close eye on the situation. "We've expanded within the past three years or so, which was a good indication to us because Canada Post had to pay for the expansion," she said. "So we're actually hoping that we're safe, but I don't think you can ever be certain." Canada Post spokesperson Francois Legault said there are "no plans at this point to close rural post offices and that's the end of the story." Ten rural Saskatchewan post offices have closed since 2002 because of what Legault called "special circumstances" Ð the retirement of the postmaster, for instance. "What I'm saying is, in the past as in the future, there may be special circumstances that will lead to closures," he said from his Ottawa office. Regardless of any potential closures, Legault said Canada Post will continue to service all Canadians. Hoimyr said the CPAA isn't demanding that every post office in Canada remain open, but "if it's a viable community that wants to maintain it, they should be able to do that."
