Sedalia post office closes with no explanation

By Joan Janzen

Kathy Simpson is the Post Mistress at Sedalia Post Office. On April 20th, 2022, she received a letter, dated March 25, informing her that she was being put on leave without pay. Kathy worked on April 1 and April 4, but early on Tuesday, April 5th, she received a phone call from management informing her she couldn’t work or enter the building on April 6th.

She tried phoning management and the union several times to find out what could be done for mail service to continue, but no on had a plan to put in place to keep the mail service going. Instead they put up a poster saying Sedalia Post Office is temporarily closed until further notice. The following week they placed a closed sign on the building with no explanation.

“I did not know mail service could be stopped instantly, with no plan to get mail to its customers,” Kathy said. Sedalia is a small rural community 50-70 kms from the nearest centre (Oyen), and is a major business hub for the locals. There are 45 functioning boxes in the Sedalia post office.

Finally, Kathy was told people could travel to Oyen to receive their mail. Furthermore, the Canada Post delivery person stopped in at Sedalia to look for a location for ‘temporary’ CMB boxes.

It looks like Sedalia is moving a step closer to losing their Post Office.