No need for hoarding during Canada Post strike, retailers say
Cannabis flies off shelves during labour slowdown; Grocery stores still stocked
Liam Ellsworth stocks shelves at Arctic Co-operatives Ltd. in Iqaluit on Tuesday evening. He said he is thankful the store is well stocked with products, because he “loves” his job. (Photo by Daron Letts)
In the days of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an inexplicable run on toilet paper, despite an intact supply chain.
Fast forward to the present, three weeks after the latest Canada Post job action which took effect Sept. 25. Now, some people in Iqaluit seem to be stockpiling cannabis — again, despite a supply chain that remains intact.
“I have noticed that the [sales] volume has increased substantially since the postal strike,” said Kevin Martin, who works at the Higher Experience cannabis dispensary in downtown Iqaluit.
“Absolutely.”
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers launched a national strike Sept. 25 after the federal government revealed plans to phase-out door-to-door delivery. Mail and parcels were not processed or delivered for the duration of the strike.
Postal union members returned to work on Saturday as the union moved from a full, national strike to rotating strikes.
Martin estimated his inventory last week was 50 per cent of what it should be, because customers are stocking up.
“We are out of stock on some things, but we do have more inventory coming in. The Canada Post strike does not affect the flow of our inventory,” he said.
The strike also does not affect grocers’ supply chains, if anyone was again eyeing that toilet paper aisle.
“There is next to no effect on the availability of products at Arctic Ventures Marketplace in Iqaluit due to the postal strike,” said Duane Wilson, vice-president, stakeholder relations with parent company Arctic Co-operatives Ltd., in an email.
Nunatsiaq News verified that grocery shelves were indeed full or being filled in Iqaluit as of this week.
“Should there be an upswing with in-community purchasing, the store orders multiple times per week and can adjust to meet demand changes very quickly,” Wilson said.
Management at Nunacanabis, Iqaluit’s second cannabis dispensary, declined to comment.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has conducted 170 days of strike activity in the past year, including two national strikes.
During the rotating strike, Canada Post will accept, process and deliver mail and parcels in unaffected areas, but customers can still expect delays, according to a statement posted to the Crown corporation’s website.
Its a huge issue, Canada Post is the biggest drug dealers of the North no joke, scary thing being not much parcel security and since BC legalized all hard drugs under 2.5 grams many sites sell hard drugs took me 5 mins to find well over 5 sites that would take my order on all kinds of crazy drugs, and look how many sites sell illegal cigs, gotta be all cartel controlled, Now I know why the premier is not coming back i wouldn’t want to be involved either.
Go with fedex instead or dhl too bad if your in a remote fly in only community but if your not …you dont need canada post if your ranting out that way..
Aŵwe..how then ? Our gov cant set up shop here and there where its needed.
That’s some pretty expensive looking fresh pop