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Canada 150 - Yorkton defies Canada Post Act

March 8 is a very important date in Canadian history. It is the day in 1867 that the British Parliament gave final reading to the British North America Act (BNA Act), which created Canada.
Canada 150

March 8 is a very important date in Canadian history. It is the day in 1867 that the British Parliament gave final reading to the British North America Act (BNA Act), which created Canada. The Act, now the Constitution Act, came into effect July 1 of that year, but the March 8 vote was also historic paving the way for self-government.

Obviously, there was no Yorkton newspaper on that date in 1867 because there was no Yorkton. In 1982, however, March 8 was the day the British Parliament passed the Canada Act allowing this country to patriate the Constitution. Despite Canada’s independence from Britain, until 1982 the Constitution remained under the control of the British Parliament.

There was no mention of this story in the March 10 edition of Yorkton This Week, the paper having become a truly local publication. That week in Yorkton the top news included Council voting to open its budget deliberations to the public and a pending strike of non-nursing staff at the Yorkton Union Hospital.

The top story of the day was Council deciding to defy the federal government and deliver its own tax notices and utility bills.

“Meeting in a closed session Monday night, city council voted 5-2 in favour of awarding a contract for delivery of bills to a Yorkton man,” wrote Dick DeRyck, then editor of the newspaper.

“Arnold Stubenberg, who intends to use teenagers to deliver the city tax notices and water bills will be charging 15 cents a piece, half the new post office rate for first class mail. Only Mayor John Wytrykush and Alderman Ben Kowall opposed the motion. The mayor feels the city should not be involved because using a delivery service other than the post office is illegal.”

In October 1981, Parliament passed the Canada Post Corporation Act, making the company a Crown corporation, guaranteeing basic postal service to all Canadians and granting Canada Post exclusive rights to deliver first class mail.

The 1982 article continued: “However, the city clerk, Wayne Jensen says, the city feels it is not “mail” until it gets to the post office.

“Yorkton isn’t the first city to challenge the post office’s right: the public utility in Kitchener, Ont. has vowed to take its case for delivering its own mail all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.”

The story went on to note the contract would save the city more than $6,000 and that Mr. Stubenberg “doesn’t have any plans to start competing with the post office on a large scale.”

In sports, the Terriers were well in control of their first-round playoff series against the Melville Millionaires up 3-0 prompting sports reporter Jeff Rud to muse about who the Terriers would face in the second round, Weyburn or Moose Jaw. Gerry James, Terriers coach wanted Weyburn to win that series, but not just because they dominated the Weyburn Red Wings 6-0 in the season series.

“But more important to James, if the Terriers meet the [Moose Jaw] Canucks in the second round, he will not be behind the bench,” Rud wrote. “James is still serving a one-year suspension from the Moose Jaw Civic Centre—the result of a between-period altercation with some fans there last season.”

That week in 1982 Saan was having a “renovation sale” at which you could purchase two pair of ladies or men’s dress pants for $13.99, boys t-shirts two for $2.69 and “little” girls’ blouses two for $3.99.

The Waterbed General Store was offering a free sofa and chair set ($599 value) with the purchase of a waterbed.

Not everything was cheap, however. A VCR, relatively new technology as a consumer product at the time, would have run you more than $1,000, close to $3,000 in today’s dollars.