The Canadian Postal Strike of 1968

[This is the first in a series of articles dealing with postal strikes in Canada. The second article dealing with strikes in the 1971 to 1984 period can be found here. The third post dealing with the 1997 strike can be found here.]

Relations between the Canadian government and postal unions were rocky during the Centennial period. In 1968, Canada's postal workers went on a 22 day postal strike from July 18 to August 9.

The following responses to the 1968 strike are considered in this article:

1. Embargo of U.S. mail to Canada
2. Department of National Defence Emergency Canadian mail delivery
3. Private courier service

1. Embargo of U.S. mail to Canada

Canada requested that the U.S. suspend all mail services to Canada during the strike. Mail to Canada was returned to senders by U.S post offices with instructional markings and labels which were created by individual post offices on an ad hoc basis. The covers below illustrate some messages found on embargoed mail.

a) Hawthorne, California


Hawthorne, Calif., to Don Mills, July 29, 1968

A perforated gummed label was affixed to the cover with this message:

RETURN TO SENDER
POSTAL EMBARGO TO CANADA

b) St. Cloud, Minnesota


St. Cloud, Minn., to Victoria, July 29, 1968

The St. Cloud Post Office applied its standard "RETURNED FOR POSTAGE" handstamp and struck out the word "POSTAGE" with a pen and wrote the word "Embargo". The letter was returned to sender and remailed on August 31, 1968. An additional 6c stamp was affixed.


Embargo marking : Modified "Returned For Postage" handstamp


Letter remailed on August 31, 1968

c) Monterey, California


Monterey, Calif., to Victoria, August 8, 1968
The message was stapled to the cover:


d) Portland, Oregon

Portland, Or., to Victoria, July 28, 1968

The Portland post office printed its message on white paper which was taped to the front of the envelope:


The Portland post office explains the Canada has requested the embargo.

e) Des Plaines, Illinois


Des Plains, Ill., to Victoria, August 3, 1968

The Des Plains post office applied the following locally produced handstamp:

RETURN TO SENDER
SERVICE SUSPNDED [sic]


Handstamp was scratched out with a red pencil when letter was remailed

The covers shown above are just a few of the many local instructional markings produced by U.S. post offices during the 1968 Canadian postal strike.

2. Department of National Defence Emergency Canadian mail delivery

The Department of National Defence established an emergency mail delivery system which allowed correspondence to be sent throughout the military without interruption.


D.N.D. handstamp


The above cover was sent via the D.N.D. emergency mail delivery system from D.N.D. headquarters in Ottawa to CFB Rockcliffe, Ottawa, July 22, 1968.

3. Private courier service

a) Juan de Fuca Depatch Carrier Service
The Juan de Fuca Despatch Carrier Service operated between Victoria and Port Angeles, Washington.


Labels without value were printed for the 1968 postal strike

The letter below addressed to Minneapolis was conveyed from Victoria to Port Angeles, Wash., via Juan de Fuca Despatch on July18, 1968. The letter entered the U.S. mail stream at Post Angeles on July 18, 1968.






b) Stern Parcel Service

Stern Parcel Service operated between Vancouver and Bellington, Wahington.


Label with 25 cent face value
The letter below addressed to Seattle was conveyed from Vancouver to Bellingham, Wash., via Stern Parcel Service on August 6, 1968. The letter entered the U.S. mail stream at Bellingham on August 7, 1968.




Bellingham, Wash., August 8 1968

c) Canadian Importers Association, Inc.

The Canadian Importers Association provided international mail service to its members during the 1968 postal strike. The Association transported correspondence from Canada to Buffalo, N.Y., and mailed it in Buffalo for U.S. and other international destinations. Members received international correspondence c/o the Canadian Importers Association, P.O. Box 745, Buffalo, N.Y.

The air mail letter to below was sent by Makin & Ridgway (Canada) Limited, Toronto via the Canadian Importers Association courier service to Stoke-on-Trent, England. The letter entered the U.S. mail stream at Buffalo, N.Y., on August 6 1968.




Canadian Importers Association Inc. Postal Strike handstamp applied to mail transported for its members to Buffalo.

Canadian Military Supervision in Vietnam During the Centennial Period

From 1954 to 1973 Canada served on two international truce commissions in Vietnam:

1. International Commission for Supervision and Control in Vietnam (ICSC)
2.International Commission of Control And Supervision (ICCS) Vietnam 1973.

The two commissions are described in this article and correspondence is shown.

1. International Commission for Supervision and Control in Vietnam (ICSC)

The ICSC was an international body established in 1954 that oversaw the implementation of the Geneva Accords that ended the First Indochina War with the partition of Vietnam. The mandate of the ICSC in Vietnam was to supervise the cease-fires and withdrawal of French troops and to supervise the movement of refugees. Much of the work was done from 1954 to 1955 and Canada had only token representation after 1958. The force comprised troops and officers from Canada, Poland, and India representing the non-communist, communist, and non-aligned blocs respectively. In 1973, the ICSC was replaced by a new body, the International Commission of Control and Supervision.



Postal Services for the ICSC was provided byIndia through its APO No. 56(Army Post Office) , New Delhi. This air mail letter was mailed from Calgary, June 23, 1969 to a Canadian Commision member, c/o APO No. 56, New Delhi, India. The Indian APO forwarded the letter to the "Ministry of External Affairs", New Delhi, and the letter was most likely conveyed to Vietnam by Indian diplomatic pouch.


2.International Commission of Control And Supervision (ICCS) Vietnam 1973

The ICCS was established to monitor the cease-fire in South Vietnam as agreed to at the Paris Peace Conference. The commission consisted personnel from Canada, Hungary, Indonesia and Poland. The Commission arranged the release and exchange of prisoners of war. Canada contributed 240 Canadian Forces personnel and 50 officials from the Department of External Affairs between January 28, 1973 and 31 July 31, 1973. Canada was replaced by Iran. The ICCS operated until 30 April 1975, two years after the Canadians withdrew.

A Canadian Forces Post Office (CFPO 5005) was opened to handle Canadian delegate mail.


CFPO 5005

This air letter below was sent on April 1, 1973 from My Tho, Vietnam by Canadian delegate Col. R.B. Scranton. Col. Scranton describes the difficulty he faces as an ICCS delegate. He writes: "...There is no cease fire here and there seems to be no indication that either side has much intent to try and have one."

Free Mail During the Centennial Period
Members of the House of Commons

This article deals with free mail sent by Members of the House of Commons during the Centennial period.


At the beginning of the Centennial period, letters and other mailable matter addressed to or by any Member of the House of Commons while at Ottawa, during any session of Parliament, or during the ten days immediately preceding or following a session of Parliament could pass free of postage provided these letters and other matter were posted at or addressed to the House of Commons and not to the private residence in Ottawa of the member.

This was amended on July 1,1971. Members of the House of Commons could send mail, free of postage, from any place in Canada and receive mail, free of postage, at any place in Canada, at any time of the year, for the duration of Parliament and ten days following dissolution of Parliament.

In addition, on and after July 1, 1971, members of the House of Commons could send from any post office in Canada free of postage to constituents four mailings of printed "householder" matter, for any fiscal year.

Parliaments during the Centennial period and examples of Free mail

There were three Parliaments during the Centennial period:

1. 27th Parliament : January 18, 1966 - March 23, 1968
2. 28th Parliament : September 9, 1968 - September 1, 1972
3. 29th Parliament : January 4, 1973 - May 4, 1974

1. 27th Parliament : January 18, 1966 - March 23, 1968

This minority parliament under Liberal Prime Minister Lester Pearson was the first Parliament of the Centennial period.

The first cover shows the elements which are seen on free mail letters from Members of Parliament:



In the lower left corner of the envelope is the name of the member. It is the handstamped signature of Member of Parliament Alvin Hamilton:



The House of Commons dated meter with hour indicia in green ink indicates that this is a Free letter:


Mailed August 23, 1967 at the 11th hour

The reverse of the envelope usually identified the letter as being sent from the House of Commons:





The biography and photograph of Alvin Hamilton, Member of Parliament, can be found at the House of Commons web site:

http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Lists/Members.aspx?Parliament=0d5d5236-70f0-4a7e-8c96-68f985128af9

(The above URL was correct on June 15, 2010)



The author's album page for this cover looks like this:




The second cover is from a Member of Parliament whose initials are stamped in the lower left hand corner:



In this case the MP is only identified by intials:



The member can be identified by going through the House of Commons MP alphabetical list posted on the House of Commons web site:



"J.G.L. MP" is James (Jim) Gordon Lind.

Here is the author's album page for this cover:



2. 28th Parliament : September 9, 1968 - September 1, 1972

Pierre E. Trudeau led the Liberals to a majority government in 1968.


Card autographed by Trudeau during the 1968 campaign

David Weatherhead (Scarborough West)



Wally Nesbitt (Oxford)



Unidentified MP

When several MPs have the same initial, identification of the MP is never a certainty. The address to which the letter is written may assist in the identification, since Members' mail is often addressed to constituents. The initials corresponding to the MP whose riding matches the address on the letter is the most likely MP. The riding list is available from the House of Commons web site. The identity is only suggestive since it is possible that an MP could have written the letter to a non-constituent.

The MP with initials "G.B."could not be identified:






Three Members of Parliament had the intials G.B.:

Gerald Baldwin (Peace River, Alberta)
H. Gordon Barrett (Lincoln, Ontario)
Gustave Bloiun (Manicouagan, Quebec)

The handstamps produced for the next Parliament included the constituency name.

3. 29th Parliament : January 4, 1973 - May 4, 1974

The Canadian federal election of 1972 resulted in a Liberal minority government under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

Walter Baker (Grenville-Carleton)

The MP initial handstamp which included the riding name was introduced in the 29th Parliament.








John Diefenbaker (Prince Albert)

Former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker ended his political career as an opposition party MP. His handstamp had been manufactured for an earlier Parliament.

Despatch Notes During the Centennial Period

Despatch notes accompanied parcels to international destinations and were to remain with the parcles and delivered to the addressee. The forms were usually not returned to the senders.

The following information was provided on the despatch note:

• Name and address of sender and addressee
• Weight of the parcel
• Amount of postage paid
• Route to be followed

1. This is a despatch note (1960 form) for an insured parcel sent from Campbellton, New Brunswick to Stockholm, Sweden, on December 12, 1967:




Weight of Parcel..................1.6kg
Value of Parcel.....................79 Francs (gold)
Canadian Postage Paid........$2.45
Customs Fee.........................265 ore

2. The next despatch note (1971 form) was for a parcel sent by air mail from Montreal to Stockholm on October 11, 1972:



Canadian Postage Paid........$2.45
Customs Fee.........................400 ore

An acknowledgment of receipt form was prepared by the Swedish Post Office and signed by the addressee:

Parcel Post to Great Britain During the Centennial Period


This article deals with a parcel piece from Canada to England mailed in 1970.



This insured parcel was mailed from Peterborough, Ontario to Woking, England on September 16, 1970. The rate for this service was $2.50 (Peterborough meter).

Canada Post Office insured handstamp applied and insured label affixed:



British Redirection

The Post Office at Woking redirected the parcel to Mill Hill, England (neither original nor redirected address was kept on the piece). A charge of 4s 6d was levied for this service.




Decimalization of British currency occurred on February 15, 1971. The postage due labels cancelled at Mill Hill, England, are an interesting mix of the decimal 20p (4 s.) and the 6d. values: