By Ken Waddell

Neepawa Banner & Press

Towards the end of my Christmas column last year I wrote, “I also believe in prayer and have prayed for dozens, if not hundreds of people. I plan to continue to do so but as some of you know, my wife and I, but especially my wife would appreciate your prayers. We are grateful for all our medical people, but they can only do so much. Prayer is needed for sure.”

By Ken Waddell

Neepawa Banner & Press

I don’t think I can remember a busier December. The Christmas month is always busy for peoples’ personal lives and for us that is no exception. Christmas parties, family gatherings and staff parties are all part of the expected activities for any given family in any given December.

This year has all of that but it seems that from a business point of view, times are busier this year. In part it’s due to the absolutely stupid Canada Postal strike.

By Ken Waddell

Neepawa Banner & Press

On Sunday in a press release, Canada Post said they presented the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) with a new proposal. CUPW covers very few postal workers in rural western ˮ����Ƶ. Most local post offices are covered by Postmasters who are members of Canadian Association of Postmasters. They are not on strike, but either CUPW or Canada Post have basically shut the post offices down. Even non-striking post offices are not allowed to receive local mail. Even if you want to send someone a cheque to pay a bill, Canada Post is forbidding it. 

By Ken Waddell

Neepawa Banner & Press

Members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers went on strike on Nov. 15 due to unresolved issues with Canada Post. That’s an interesting statement as just about everybody has unresolved issues with Canada Post. From customers to management to the striking members of CUPW, everyone has problems with Canada Post.

Canada Post has a problem with itself, not the least of which is the fact it loses half a billion dollars a year and it doesn’t seem to have any idea how to fix it.

By Ken Waddell

Neepawa Banner & Press

It’s been a few years now since the ˮ����Ƶ NDP government of the day enforced amalgamation on municipalities. Their theory was that rural municipalities with less than 1000 residents needed to join forces to form a larger entity. The initiative was not met well by many affected municipalities for several reasons.