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Lasqueti Islanders getting their mail again after lack of vaccinated staff shut down post office

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Canada Post said service resumed to Lasqueti community mailboxes on Thursday and Friday, and the regular Monday-Thursday-Friday delivery schedule is expected to return next week. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Mail service has resumed on Lasqueti Island after the local post office was shut down due to unvaccinated staff, residents say.

As a Crown corporation, Canada Post employees are subject to the vaccine mandate for federal staff. Employees were required to submit their vaccination status by Nov. 26.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers filed an application for a cease-and-desist order against the mandate that was denied last week.

Canada Post said service resumed to Lasqueti community mailboxes on Thursday and Friday, and the regular Monday-Thursday-Friday delivery schedule is expected to return next week.

Lasqueti, which is located off Parksville and has a population of about 400, was without mail service for the first part of this week.

Other small Canadian post offices have had similar problems as a result of unvaccinated employees being unable to work.

In a statement, Canada Post said only that the Lasqueti post office was closed “due to ­staffing issues” and that parcels could be picked at Parksville’s main post office — a ferry ride away.

That has been “a great inconvenience” said island resident Ingo Dyrkton, who runs Carvings by Ingo.

People have also been unable to mail packages out, said Dyrkton, who ships out his bowls, spoons, masks and other carvings by mail.

The post office was run according to provincial health protocols, he said, adding the situation has been stressful for islanders.

“And we have no control over it,” he said. “It’s very upsetting for the community.”

Sue Wheeler of the island’s Heron Bay Farm said a Canada Post representative told her the hope is to have the movement of general-delivery mail and parcels worked out by next week.

In normal times, residents have a choice of either delivery or pickup, with some living close to the post office opting for the latter.

She said the post-office closure was compounded by the fact that no mail came over last week because of weather-related ferry cancellations. “We rely on our mail a lot and it’s really important.”

Canada Post thanked islanders for their “patience and understanding” while the situation was worked out.

jbell@timescolonist.com

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