Redirection of mail to other evacuation centres now possible
- Linda Mikolayenko | July 15, 2015
Evacuees from northern Saskatchewan communities now have more options for getting their mail. While mail was initially available for pick-up only at the Canada Post location at 9 Marquis Road in Prince Albert, Canada Post spokesperson John Caines confirmed that arrangements were being made with Emergency Social Services to have mail redirected to evacuation centres in other locations for those who request it.
Forms for requesting mail redirection are now available at the following locations:
Cold
Lake Energy Centre
SaskTel Sports Centre in Saskatoon
Henk Ruys
Soccer Centre in Saskatoon
Actual pick-up of mail at these centres is expected to begin next Tuesday, July 21, 2015, and will be available between 10:00 a.m. and noon.
It had also been planned to have mail delivered to Evraz Place in Regina, but with that evacuation centre in the process of closing down, Karri Kempf, Manager of Information and Emergency Services with the Ministry of Social Services, said that they will work with Canada Post to get mail to those evacuees who remain in the Regina area who request it.
In order to receive their mail, evacuees are required to provide government-issued identification, or if this was left behind in the process of evacuation, Caines said an Emergency Social Services/Red Cross registration confirmation form would be acceptable. Among evacuees, this is commonly known as the “yellow sheet”.
Although there were long line-ups at the Prince Albert location initially, Caines said he knows “for a fact” that this is no longer the case.
When community evacuations were ordered, mail was removed from local post-office boxes and taken to Prince Albert. How long it will take regular mail service to resume once evacuation orders are lifted will depend on the timing, said Caines, noting that if the return takes place over the weekend, there may be delays.
“As they move back into the community, so will we,” he said.
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