Volume 37#21

February 12 – February 25, 2013

Lot 1 in Eastern Auctions' June 19 Camellia Collections sale is the original seven-page 1851 contract for the production of Canada's first postage stamps. Signed by Provincial Postmaster General James Morris and representatives of the New York engraving firm Rawdon, Wright, Hatch and Edson, the historic document established the terms for printing the Province of Canada's first stamp issue, including the iconic three-pence Beaver.

‘Historic’ Windsor post office one of many facing closure

Canada Post is coming under fire over more post office closures and sorting station reductions. In Windsor, Ont., MP Brian Masse is leading a fight to keep the Sandwich Post Office open, and to retain jobs at a local sorting facility. One of the arguments in favour of retaining the post office is the historic nature of Sandwich, a very old community in what is now West Windsor. Sandwich was the original name of Windsor, and the site of several engagements during the War of 1812. The Sandwich post office, however, is located in a building constructed long after the war. Continue reading →

Regulars

Are you buying or selling?

Page 19

Check out the shows in your area

Page 23

Editorial

Cash crunch streamlines Canada’s postal history

When a successful post office that serves a large number of people is closed and replaced with a back corner of a drugstore, that isn’t converting from one type of post office to another, it is a definite and permanent reduction in service. It is also a definite and permanent reduction in cost for Canada Post. It is no secret that the corporation’s biggest single budget item is paying for its staff and their gold-plated benefit packages. Chief among these is an indexed pension, with Canada Post picking up the deficit. That deficit is huge, since Canada Post has lots of employees on the retired list. What’s more, thanks to modern medicine, these people are drawing pension money out for more years than ever before. However, closing a post office today does not mean a dramatic impact on the cost of servicing the pension plan in the short term.

Continue reading →

By Bret Evans