Canada Post strike puts mail-out poppy campaign at risk

CTV’s Alexandra Holyk explains how a labour dispute may mean the loss of thousands of dollars in donations for local Legions.

Branches of the Royal Canadian Legion in Waterloo Region have paused their annual mail-out poppy campaigns as they wait for a resolution in the Canada Post labour dispute.

More than 150,000 poppies are supposed to be delivered at the end of October. Each poppy is tucked into an unsealed envelope, giving those who receive it a chance to mail a donation back to the Legion.

“The mail-outs are one of our general resources of money that comes in for the veterans’ care and for the hospitals,” said Stan Howie, chairman of the Kitchener-Waterloo (KW) Poppy Fund.

The Legion said if the strike continues, it could jeopardize thousands of dollars of donations for local veterans. Canada Post workers have been off the job for more than a week, fighting the federal government’s sweeping service changes.

Howie said local Legions are still recovering from last December’s labour action, which made it difficult for them to receive mail-in donations.

“Last year, we had a problem getting them back from the people,” said Howie. “Now this year, we’re going to have trouble getting them out to the people.”

But the poppy postal problems don’t end there. The Legion said even if the labour dispute is resolved, other issues remain.

“The envelopes are classified as flyers,” said Gordon Moore, a member of the KW Poppy Fund. “And the union has stated that they will not deliver flyers to households.”

The Legion said it’s left in the lurch as it looks for other ways to keep the campaign afloat, which could include sourcing community volunteers.

“We’re getting all older and we don’t have the volunteers that could go out and do that, door-to-door,” said Howie.

Another option would be inviting the public to their local legion.

“I don’t know how successful we’d be with having people wanting to come in to pick up the envelope,” said James Conrad, KW Poppy Fund’s co-chair.

In a statement to CTV News, a spokesperson for the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) Local 560 said they “understand and appreciate the concerns raised.”

“We have proudly supported the Legion’s poppy campaign in the past,” said Amanda Goveas, CUPW Local 560’s treasurer, adding they have forwarded the Legion’s concerns to the union’s national office and are waiting on a response.

Goveas also said the local chapter hopes “a resolution can be reached soon.”

Moore said the Legion is hopeful it can continue with its campaign.

“Hopefully at the end of the day, we’re going to be able to smile and say, ‘We got the job done,’” he said.