THE WAY I SEE IT -- Why not think of a rural post office as the communications hub it was originally intended to be, asks Feldsted?
Bank's withdrawal upsets Tamworth residents Raechel Huizinga ~~ Kingston Whig Standard ~~ July 2, 2019 ... Canada’s rural communities have been losing local banks by the hundreds. Tamworth, a small community half an hour north of Napanee, with a population of approximately 1,700, is no exception ... the (Ontario) hamlet’s CIBC bank branch — which is also the only banking location in Stone Mills Township (pop. 7,700) — closed, taking its single ATM with it and forcing customers to travel to Napanee for services such as cash withdrawals and deposits. “It’s a hardship for all of these small communities, which are already under pressure and often in states of decline,” Tamworth resident Mark Oliver said. “It’s a very slippery slope before there’s not much left.” A task force travelled across Canada to gather information and hear from different organizations and stakeholders, but Bossio said he was told postal banking would be too difficult to accomplish. ...