The Rural Voice, 1995-06, Page 11Scrap Book
Post Office could
be electronic hub
After years of trying to close
down rural post offices, Canada
Post has suddenly rediscovered
the potential importance of the
institution.
"One day, in the age of the
information highway, the post
office in a small community will
become the information centre
for provincial and federal gov-
ernment services, or for local
communities," said Georges
Clermont, president of Canada
Post when he addressed a Parl-
iamentary committee studying
the post office's budgets.
"It's very easy to imagine that
we'll have an electronic bulletin
board instead of a physical
one," he said. This rural post
office with bells and whistles
could offer information about
government programs, and
perhaps electronic banking
services if the local bank branch
was closing.
Not all MPs were easily con-
vinced about the future of this
wired world. Northwest Ontario
Liberal MP Reg Belair wonder-
ed how this would happen if the
technology doesn't reach to
remote areas. "It will one day,"
Clermont assured.
"It won't if it's too
expensive," Belair said.
Clermont admitted it was a
matter of money and that
Canada Post couldn't afford it
now. His positive attitude was a
complete reversal from the
times under the Progressive
Conservative government when
Harve Andre told the Commons
the rural post office was a
business that was often losing
money and there was no room
for the romance of the rural post
office as the social hub and
meeting place of the small
community. The Liberal
government put a halt to rural
post office closings after 1990.0
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