Yellowknife (May 06/05) - French-speaking Yellowknifers have lost the service of one of two full time bi-lingual counter staff at the Yellowknife Post Office.

Changes in staffing left one bilingual job vacant for just over a year, and Canada Post recently decided to eliminate the position. The decision, "shows a complete lack of respect to the francophone members of our community," Loretta Kaminski, president of the Yellowknife Local of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), said in a press release.

The union local is circulating a petition opposing the elimination of the bi-lingual counter staff position.

The post office has had to deal with some "very irate" francophone patrons over the past year who could not get service in French, Kaminski said.

These situations arise, says Kaminski, when the one bilingual customer service employee - who works regular business hours, Monday to Friday - is on vacation or home sick.

With 3,000 French speakers in Yellowknife - 800 of those as a first language - according to Fernand Denault, president of the Federation Franc-Tenoise, this is an issue which is "not to be dismissed."

Kaminski said the Yellowknife post office is not meeting its obligation under the Official Languages Act to provide service in both French and English.

John Caines, manager of national media relations for Canada Post, said it isn't a problem. "We have not had one complaint in the North."

The number of bilingual staff required in an area is population-related and the Yellowknife Post Office meets the requirement, Caines said. Other staff at the post office speak French, Caines said, but Kaminski said those individuals are casual workers, not full-time counter staff.