Sandwich post office closing date announced

By Adam D’Andrea

After protests, petitions and 107 years of service, the Olde Sandwich Towne postal outlet will be closed at the end of April.

Canada Post announced March 26 that operations at the post office would cease April 26. The building that stands at the corner of Sandwich Street and Mill Street was built in 1905. It was opened as a post office in 1906.

Windsor West MP Brian Masse and Ward 2 Coun. Ron Jones were both vocal critics of Canada Post’s decision to close the office. At a public demonstration outside the building in January, Jones said the city was not being consulted during the decision making process.

“Why won’t they come to the city of Windsor and come to some kind of common ground with the citizens? We need to be involved with the discussions,” said Jones. “That is only the right and proper thing to do.”

Windsor Workers’ Action Centre president Paul Chislett said he agreed with Masse’s statement that the public has not been given the business case for closing the post office.

“One reason why it was kept open after 2008 was because there was evidence that came forward that this place is really doing quite well business-wise,” said Chislett. “This time though it seems that we’re not being shown that information.”

Chislett, who has been involved in campaigns to keep the post office open since 2008, said these kinds of losses are detrimental to Sandwich Towne flourishing as a community.

“It can’t all be just about corporate efficiency, it’s got to also be about community. If we’re going to be building community then we have to stop these kinds of corporate cuts because all they do is just undermine the very neighbourhoods where people live,” said Chislett. “There’s not enough going into building the community as a cultural and historical hub of this wider Windsor area.”

Local labour activist Ian Clough said he sees the closing of the post office as a jab at the residents of Sandwich Town.

“That post office serves a community that’s often forgotten about when it comes to municipal politics,” said Clough. “It’s just another kick at a population that’s being kicked more and more often.”

Clough said he agreed the community and local politicians should have been more involved in the decision of whether or not to keep the post office open.

The post office’s two employees will be relocated to other locations. Both employees declined to comment on the closing.