ManitobaAn elderly Winnipeg woman’s frustration with the Manitoba government has reached a boiling point after the province stopped mailing out essential cheques and told her the only way she could hers is by picking it up downtown.90-year old Winnipegger told to go downtown and get cheque on her own timeDave Baxter · CBC News · Posted: Aug 11, 2025 8:31 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour 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 with the Manitoba government has reached a boiling point after the province stopped mailing out essential cheques and told her the only way she could hers is by picking it up downtown.”This program has been in effect as long as I’ve been on it … and there has never been a problem,” 90-year old Evelyn Kenny said. “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.”The province announced that as of May 26, due to possible strike action at Canada Post, essential mail for those who don’t receive direct deposit would be directed to distribution centres for pick up instead.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.Kenny doesn’t drive and with her current medical conditions, says that going downtown to pick up a cheque is not a simple task. “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 reached out to Manitoba Health for comment but did not receive a response prior to publication.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
Senior left in limbo after province pulls essential cheques from mail
