ManitobaAn elderly Winnipeg woman’s frustration still lingers after the province announced it would be lifting a pause on the delivery of essential cheques by mail.90-year old Winnipegger says she’s still frustrated by situation Dave Baxter · CBC News · Posted: Aug 11, 2025 8:31 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoEvelyn Kenny, 90, uses a supplemental oxygen tank and pays for it upfront, then receives a rebate cheque in the mail every month. She’s now been told she has to go downtown to get her cheque. (CBC News)An elderly Winnipeg woman’s frustration still lingers after the province announced it would be lifting a pause on the delivery of essential cheques by mail.The reversal comes after the province previously announced as of May 26 essential mail for those who don’t receive direct deposit would be directed to distribution centres for pick-up instead, due to possible strike action at Canada Post,.On Monday, Emily Coutts, the press secretary for Manitoba Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara, told CBC News the province decided to restart sending mail Monday “given the Canada Post strike does not appear to be imminent.”Still, the system that had been in place caused major stress for 90-year-old Evelyn Kenny, who was told the only way she’d be able to get the cheque she needs was by picking it up downtown on her own time. The senior doesn’t drive and with her current medical conditions said going downtown to pick up a cheque is not a simple task. “This program has been in effect as long as I’ve been on it … and there has never been a problem,” Kenny said in an interview on Sunday. “What caused the NDP to go overboard like this and create such a problem?”I don’t understand it. Nobody can give me an answer.”Kenny has used a supplemental oxygen tank daily for about five years. She pays for it upfront and then receives a rebate cheque of $435 every month. When her July cheque didn’t show up in the mail, Kenny was told it would not be coming to her Grant Park home and that she would have to get it at the Manitoba Health branch on Carlton Street between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.”With me on oxygen, and the heavy smoke [from wildfires] I’m told to stay in. And then I got a department telling me, ‘Well, it’s OK to go downtown and pick up a cheque,’ so I’m still in a quandary,” she said. “They didn’t give any alternative, just go and pick it up.”Kenny said she was given no notice that her July cheque would not be coming in the mail.”The only way you found out was when you phoned to ask where your cheque was,” she said. “Is that fair to the seniors? I don’t think so. It’s not the way to treat people.” She has still not been able to pick up her July cheque and said her August payment will be coming out soon, so she will soon be out more than $800. Her son drove in from Gimli twice to attempt to pick it up, and was told both times it was not ready to be picked up yet, costing him time, money for fuel, and only adding to the frustration, Kenny said. “It’s making my condition worse with stress, and it just feels like I’m fighting this battle all by myself,” she said. CBC News has asked the province for clarification on the delayed mail. ABOUT THE AUTHORDave Baxter is an award-winning reporter and editor currently working for CBC Manitoba. Born and raised in Winnipeg, he has also previously reported for the Winnipeg Sun and the Winnipeg Free Press, as well as several rural Manitoba publications.With files from Lauren Scott and Gavin Axelrod
Province to reinstate delivery of essential cheques by mail
