Rural life in Saskatchewan is getting more difficult to sustain as each year passes by, and news that rural post offices are 'at risk' for closure is only adding to that situation.

Locally, to add to the pressure on rural communities, there is also news about consideration being given a plan to close five schools in the Sunrise School Division, three of which are located in the rural areas: Pangman, Lang and Milestone Elementary schools.

In regard to rural post offices, it was recognized by the Liberal government some time ago how valuable a resource these offices are, in some communities providing the only link to the federal government. A moratorium on the closure of rural post offices was put in place, and has never been repealed.

The difficulty, according to the Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association (CPAA), is that the current Liberal administration is not living up to the moratorium, and is allowing Canada Post to make closures where they feel there is no viable option.

In the Weyburn region, the offices that are deemed at risk include Beaubier, Bromhead, Colgate, Corning, Halbrite, Hardy, Heward, McTaggart, Osage and Perry, with a total of 18 altogether said to be at risk in Souris-Moose Mountain.

As long as there is a person and a building available to house the post office, the government should ensure that this most basic of services is available.

The question does arise, however, about how long a moratorium can realistically last. A wiser course of action may be to institute a guideline or criteria to evaluate the service provided in a given post office, with the CPAA having full input into such criteria. To maintain their viability, these offices could provide other links to federal government services and programs, as many of these offices are doing now.

The base problem is the same as that faced by school boards, municipalities and even mom-and-pop stores: the population of our rural areas are slowly but surely dwindling, and the base of people is no longer there to be serviced.

Of course, factors such as the closure of facilities and services are what lead to the death of many small towns and villages. At some point, there has to be a line, where the closures must stop, and society must take responsibility for maintaining our rural way of life.

To some extent, this line needs to be drawn at the local level, and this is where bodies like school boards come in. They cannot in good conscience claim they are not part of the community; the school has always been a central part of small town life, and needs to be maintained there as much as possible.

In the same way, the federal government has this one service, a basic service that has existed as long as Canada has been a country. Even in the age of the Internet, we still rely on the mail, and will continue to do so well into the future.

If the Liberals have no wish to set criteria for maintaining post offices in rural areas, then at least they need to enforce their moratorium and ensure it is adhered to. - G.N.