Mr. Speaker, the government wastes a lot of rhetoric on how it supports rural Canada, yet it is denying basic federal service to much of it.
The Liberals have broken their promise not to close more rural post offices and, worse yet, they have changed the rules so larger commercial accounts are excluded as post office income thus lowering the profit of many of the small branches and putting them on the non-essential list.
I am sure that no one working for the minister responsible for Canada Post Corporation will recognize the names that I am about to list. Tancook Island, Barss Corner, Greenfield, Hunts Point, McGray, Northeast Point, Pleasantville, Port Clyde, Port Joli, Port Mouton, Riverport, Sable River, South Brookfield and Stony Island are all post offices in South Shore that are slated to close.
Too often the only federal presence in rural and coastal Canada is the local post office. How can the government pretend to help rural Canada on one hand while pulling the door closed on rural post offices with the other?