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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Postal depot on Main rejected

Fight vowed to secure exchange of properties

By: Kevin Rollason

25/04/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 3

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night will stop Canada Post carriers, but building a new letter-carrier depot on Main Street would.

A proposal by the provincial government to give Canada Post the vacant lot at Higgins Avenue and Main Street in return for the lot at Portage Avenue and Broadway, coveted by neighbouring Gordon Bell High School students and local residents for green space for community activities and student athletics, was sent to the dead-letter office by the Crown corporation late Thursday.

Canada Post spokeswoman Kathi Neal said the proposed site was "impractical" for their needs.

"We determined it is not a good fit for Canada Post," Neal said Friday.

"Eighty letter carriers will work out of that depot for the downtown, West End and Polo Park. Higgins and Main is on the extreme border, so it is impractical."

Neal said if the province can deliver another piece of property for Canada Post to consider, they will look at it, but meanwhile the plan is to build the new letter-carrier facility near Gordon Bell this August.

That doesn't sit well with 17-year-old Morgan Hoogstraten, a Grade 12 student at Gordon Bell.

"We're all so into this we'll put up a fight for this full throttle," Hoogstraten said.

"I just think there's more spaces out there. I can't see how they could build there and crush all the dreams of students in this area."

Federal NDP MP Pat Martin, who has supported the push for the green space, said he was taken aback when Canada Post rejected the proposal.

"What a difference a day makes. We were short of celebrating, but we were optimistic we were on track," Martin said.

"If this is a negotiating strategy, it is a pretty cheap stunt. This is for the well-being of the inner-city children. If this was a labour negotiation, it would be unfair bargaining.

"We'll haul them before the court of public opinion."

Peter Bjornson, the province's education minister, said he has sent a letter to the federal minister responsible for Canada Post.

"We're not giving up," Bjornson said.

"We're asking Canada Post to reconsider the offer... we hope they do what's right for the community."

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 25, 2009 A4

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3 Comments

Posted by: Chuck W

April 25, 2009 at 2:18 PM

It is shameful to see local politicians taking cheap shots at government employees over this.

Local governments and the school board had the opportunity to buy the land, and they missed the boat.

The City of Winnipeg, the No 1 School Division, and the province all have better and more centrally located land they could offer in trade.

Instead they want to get their kicks by employing unfair bargaining tactics against people just doing their jobs and serving their customers.

It would be shameful for our Conservative federal government to ask postal workers to, as our provincial NDP government has asked Manitoba Hydro and WRHA employees to, become fresh prey for criminals in a high crime neighbourhood.

Let Pat Martin's party seek changes to the YCJA, policing and the courts, to make the area safe for unarmed workers on weird shifts -- clean up the crime first.

Pat Martin should not be asking defenseless civilian postal workers to clean up crime for him.

I always thought the NDP supported workers. I guess I was wrong. And many of these workers are women, and violence against women is a women's issue, so I guess the NDP isn't supporting women or women's issues either.

When did the NDP decide to break its ties to the union movement and oppose union members on life-and-death matters of work place safety?

Taking things "to the press" is not always fair is it.

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Posted by: Chuck W

April 25, 2009 at 2:07 PM

Canada Post made the right decision. A deliver company needs to be centrally located and safely located to serve its customers.

Moving the Canada Post depot to Main and Higgins would have permanently handicapped Winnipeg businesses by causing unnecessary (if subtle) on-going delays and expenses in mail delivery.

Buckling to political grandstanding would be easy for Canada Post to do. It is good to see them standing up for their customers.