Morson post office to close

Ken Johnston
Editor

Morson residents were stunned last Tuesday when they learned that their long time post office will be closing on July 27, 2001.
Town Councillor Joanne Moen said that Dalsegs started the post office around 1912, and current postmaster Stewart Gill said that he has run it for the past 25 years.
Gill, who operates the post office out of his store, the Morson Shopping Center, said that it was strictly a business decision to opt out of providing the service. “It was not paying to provide the service,” said Gill who had asked for more money from Canada Post. They countered, but not with enough to make it pay, explained Gill.
Brian Garrigan, Manager of Media and Community Affairs for Canada Post in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario, said the corporation reviewed the situation carefully and even sent a team of experts into Morson to look at alternate locations for a post office there. However none were found as most businesses there are seasonal.
He did note that Gill was on an old contract and new operators have to meet much stricter guidelines to host a post office. No one in the community met those guidelines.
However Garrigan said that if someone were to come forward with a proposal to host a new post office, Canada Post would seriously consider it. He said that he understands there is a proposal in the works from the community, but as of yet he has not seen it. He noted that it will be considered but will not happen over night.
In the mean time community post boxes are enroute to Morson and will be installed across the road from the Morson Shopping Center. The down side of that is that box holders will have to drive to Sleeman, the nearest post office to pick up parcels. That is about a 30 mile (50 km) drive.
The reason for the short notice to residents, said Garrigan, was that Canada Post was trying very hard to resolve the situation before having to resort to community mail boxes. When that failed they had to move quickly to get a system in place. “Our job is to deliver the mail, not to create real estate.”
Donna McBride of Canada Post was in Morson last Wednesday to assign boxes and hand out keys for them and answer questions.
Councillor Moen said that there are over 350 households in the township and two reserves serviced by the Morson Post Office. Lake of the Woods Township Clerk Pat Giles said that the council there has written letters of protest about the closure, as well as the fact that Canada Post is only planning to install 150 boxes.
Giles also said that council was upset that all the boxes are being placed at one location, noting that in any subdivision where community boxes are used, the boxes are usually located closer to where people live. He noted that people receiving mail at General Delivery Morson may have to drive a long way to get their mail, when a group of boxes could have been placed closer to them. He also said that council was concerned about the costs to businesses having to get new letterhead printed for their new addresses. Council also feels the distance to pick up a parcel is ridiculous.
Council does not have any land or buildings that would qualify for a new postal outlet, however they are encouraging anyone who wishes to house a new office to write a letter to the area manager who has indicated a strong interest in finding an alternative.
Moen was surprised that there was no public notification of the closure in the local media or advertising for anyone interested in taking over the postal operations in the Morson area.