Iqaluit (July 09/01) - People take their mail pretty seriously.

They also take seriously the price they pay for access to that service. That means whenever there is a disruption in the goods or the services Canada Post Corporation is mandated to supply nationwide, people get upset.

Javad Dedekhani fills out a postage label at the post office in Iqaluit -- a task he couldn't do between the hours of 1 and 2 p.m. last Thursday and Friday. A staff shortage resulted in the corporation closing its doors to customers for brief periods of time. - Kerry McCluskey/NNSL photo

Such was the case last week in Nunavut's capital. A sign posted around Iqaluit's community post office said the building would close from 1 to 2 p.m. Thursday and Friday. The sign apologized for the inconvenience, but offered no explanation.

Questions to employees revealed the local office was so understaffed that they had no choice but to close their doors for the hour. Corporation policy prevents staff members from working alone and the break gave workers the opportunity to eat their lunch.

One employee, who re-fused to give her name, said that were it not for a co-worker being flown over from Yellowknife to help out on Monday and Tuesday, the post office would also have shut down for interludes this week as well.

Calls to Canada Post were not returned.

Iqalungmiut were not pleased with the situation. Many residents felt slighted, arguing they are entitled to constant service given the current rate of postage.

"They should never be short-staffed," said Dave Stephens. "They owe it to us (to be open). I want to be able to find out if I have mail."

One local business owner, also concerned about using his name, was equally frustrated. He said when it comes to local correspondence, he prefers to pick up and deliver letters, bills and cheques instead of leaving it to Canada Post.

"This is the worst post office I've ever seen," he said. "There is no excuse. They're just being chintzy. If (Canada Post) is going to offer services for the money they ask to mail a letter, they should supply the service."

What bothered Annie Ataguyuk was the fact that she's never come across any advertisements seeking more postal workers.

"I've seen nothing," she said.

Bryan Pearson found it hard to believe that a federal corporation would be understaffed in a community with a large unemployment rate. He said it was up to Canada Post to hire enough staff to keep the post office open during regular business hours. He also said he suspected the employees were regularly overworked.

"The onus is on the corporation," he said. "This is ridiculous."