Government Operations committee  Yes, it is 25 kilometers from the most remote municipality.

Government Operations committee  There is absolutely no service in a small municipality such as mine. As I was saying, we do not even have a post office. The nearest one is seven kilometers away, and the one that serves us is 15 kilometers away. A little earlier I was talking about municipalities near my own that are located just off Highway 132, on a road that leads only to the farthest municipality.

Government Operations committee  The surrounding municipalities have all adopted a resolution requesting that the Caisse Desjardins reverse its decision. That has not been done. Earlier we talked about the aging populations of those municipalities. That is all the more important since these services are provided near those people.

Government Operations committee  That is correct.

Government Operations committee  That might be a good solution to consider. As I mentioned, Canada Post is often the last representative of public services in the rural regions. I have also heard about banking services. I can personally attest that that service could really be promising. In my region, for example, the caisse populaire was closed, leaving three municipalities without banking services.

Government Operations committee  Good morning and thank you, Mr. Chair. My name is Hervé Esch, and I am director general of the municipality of Ristigouche-Sud-Est. My testimony will focus more on observations of what I have seen in the field. Ristigouche-Sud-Est is a small municipality of 165 inhabitants. As we have no post office, we rely on one that is located 15 kilometers away.