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DSSAB cheques sent early to pre-empts potential postal interruption

THUNDER BAY -- If Canada Post service is disrupted in July, local social program administrators are determined not to have clients endure a repeat of 2011.
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(Photo by Jon Thompson, tbnewswatch.com)

THUNDER BAY -- If Canada Post service is disrupted in July, local social program administrators are determined not to have clients endure a repeat of 2011.

Amid postal worker rotating strikes and a Canada Post lockout five summers ago, District of Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board’s Ontario Works cheques became caught in the mail.

The DSSAB staff is taking preemptive action this week to slip cheques in the mail before July 2, when Canada Post and postal workers will be in legal positions to lockout or walk out, respectively.

“We’ve learned from past efforts and that’s why we got ahead of this one,” said DSSAB financial services director Lori Roulston.

“We have taken some advance steps. We’ve provided our mailouts early to individuals who normally receive their cheques by mail.”

Roulston expects clients should receive cheques by the end of the day on June 29 and urged anyone who has yet to receive theirs by June 30 to contact the DSSAB office.

Should the potential disruption persist into August, staff is prepared to rent halls and hand out cheques personally.

“If it went longer than the month, we’d need a bigger space than the office here so we’d look to identify a location or locations where that could happen and we could set up,” Roulston explained.

“We do have offices in a number of municipalities so our local offices as well, people can come in there and the checks will be provided there if they haven’t received them.”

Further information will be posted to the Thunder Bay DSSAB website if a postal disruption occurs.





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