Eganville Leader newspaper going on strike amid Canada Post job action

Eganville Leader publisher Gerald Tracey posing with the newspaper's last printed edition until the Canada Post strike ends. (Dylan Dyson/ CTV News Ottawa)

Renfrew County’s most popular newspaper says it too is going on strike in the midst of job action by the country’s postal workers.

The Eganville Leader says the strike by Canada Post workers has halted its ability to distribute its weekly editions.

Since postal workers have been off the job, thousands of undelivered copies of the newspaper have piled up in the Leader’s warehouse, costing thousands in printing.

"Over the two weeks that the strike has been going on, I would guess that we have 7,000 papers sitting back there,” says Gerald Tracey, the paper’s publisher.

Tracey says the Leader mails out 4,000 copies of its newspaper across Renfrew County each week. Another 2,000 are distributed for retail at newsstands.

He says until Canada Post workers are back on the job, the Nov. 27 edition of the paper will be the last printed copy.

“It's frustrating because we can't do anything about it. We can't physically deliver the papers to our subscribers because Renfrew County is larger than Prince Edward Island. We just can't do it, that's not economically feasible,” Tracey said.

In the meantime, the publisher says it will be offering readers free online subscriptions.

Tracey caveats that with the fact that digital access is not equal across Renfrew County.

"We have to also realize that internet services in the rural areas aren’t good. (The strike is) impacting rural Ontario. It's impacting publications like ourselves, magazines and it's impacting seniors and people who are not computer savvy,” Tracey added.

Howard Bernard was one of many subscribers that stopped into the Eganville Leader office Wednesday to pick up their physical copy of the paper.

"I'm a dinosaur,” Bernard tells CTV News, remarking how important the newspaper still is for him.

“I do not have a cell phone. I do not have a computer. I have a landline for my telephone, and that's it."

Don Derraugh drove from Arnprior to get his copy of the paper, and offered to bring back dozens of others for subscribers in the town that couldn’t make the drive.

"I thought if I'm driving to Eganville for my paper, I might as well pick up a few more,” Derraugh told Tracey.

“And you don't mind?” asked Tracey.

“Well, I know half the people in Arnprior,” said Derraugh.

Another decision weighing on Tracey is the Leader’s annual Christmas magazine, which needs to head printing within a week’s time to be ready for the holiday season.

It’s a $10,000-expense that hangs in the balance of the Canada Post strike.

Tracey says the paper is unable to afford for anymore prints to sit undelivered.

"We aren't going to publish a paper until the strike is over,” Tracey added.