Honourable senators, in a small town, the post office is a place to catch up on local news or the latest gossip, read the death notices so you can call the family, mail a care package to a grandkid or pick up that much-anticipated Mother’s Day card.

It’s a gathering place, community billboard and Facebook for those without a smartphone, all rolled into one. But with costs mounting, the prospects for rural communities are troubling as the federal government again considers service cuts and closures.

Canada Post just recorded a $748-million loss, up from $548 million last year. In fact, there have been no profits since 2017. Stamp prices, of course, are set to rise again, to 99 cents to send a domestic letter and almost $3 to send a note overseas.

Canada Post says that mail is down by 50% while the number of addresses is up by 3 million. We all know that the world has changed and such losses are clearly unsustainable, but this is a core service for rural Canadians, who already have poor internet, must travel long distances and can’t take another hit.

Already, over 50% of communities have no postal outlet of any kind. I drive 25 kilometres to get my mail. We have seen post offices converted to franchises, or those big boxes on the side of the road, which often have limited access due to weather.

In 1994, Ottawa called a moratorium on rural closures in response to a public outcry after more than 1,700 post offices were shuttered.

Last year, I raised questions about Canada Post once again polling on closing rural post offices, and even trying to redefine “rural” to get around the rules. I expressed similar concerns when our local paper, the Wadena News, closed down. Ottawa had pulled most of its advertising dollars from small papers, and, as a result, many communities lost their voice.

So, we need a commitment from government, and these are cabinet decisions. We need modernization, but that need not mean closed doors, lost jobs or no service.

Please do not convert our post offices to apartments to deal with an ill-considered immigration policy, or impose your urban-centric view of the world, or fund the failures of a Crown corporation on the backs of rural Canadians.