For once I thought I鈥檇 get ahead of the Christmas-shopping-for-Vancouver-relatives game.

Yes, it鈥檚 still early(-ish), but procrastination is seldom your friend and, after all the comments I鈥檝e heard from local retailers about shortages and shipping challenges, and accompanying advice that it would be wise to purchase gifts sooner than later, it seemed best to just get鈥檈r done.

And then something I鈥檇 never heard of, an 鈥渁tmospheric river,鈥� washed over the Lower Mainland and parts of the Thompson-Okanagan, leaving a swath of destruction unlike anything I鈥檝e ever seen in B.C.

The timely arrival of Christmas gifts became a petty concern. However, with all of our major transportation routes in and out of the Lower Mainland essentially shut down due to the storm, it seemed like a lot of mail would be delayed, including things like bills, letters, etc. mailed in Salmon Arm to a Salmon Arm address. For example, the City of Salmon Arm鈥檚 utility bills. In a Nov. 23 post on its Facebook page, the city explained metered utility bills for water and sewer were mailed on Nov. 12. However, due to the highway closures, 鈥渢here may be a delay in receiving your bill.鈥�

Why is that? Most likely centralization. to me that mail dropped off at a post box in town, or at a private outlet, is delivered to the Lower Mainland where it鈥檚 sorted and then returned to Salmon Arm for delivery.

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The topic of centralization came up in recent conversations I had with local dairy farmers who, for a couple of days, were having to dump their milk as the highway closures and flooding in the Fraser Valley meant they couldn鈥檛 get it to the Lower Mainland for processing. This happened as panicked shoppers were rapidly depleting dairy sections at local grocery stores.

Dairy farmer and Kamloops Okanagan Dairy Association chair Henry Bremer said historically, every little area in B.C. had its own plants for production. Then the highways got better and a lot of plants were closed, including plants Bremer said once operated in the North Okanagan.

鈥淟ike a lot of industries around Canada, they鈥檝e gotten big or they鈥檝e gotten small and the middle ground has been hollowed out and that鈥檚 sort of the size of milk plant that would be appropriate for here,鈥� said Bremer.

I am by no means qualified to speak to the pros and cons of centralization. However, I cannot help but see absurdity in something being sent 500-plus kilometres away (adding to our carbon footprint in the process), to have it sorted or processed before being returned to its community of origin.

Despite amazing efforts underway to reopen our highways, Canada Post is still warning customers there may be delays in receiving items. Well, I suppose if gifts don鈥檛 make it to the Lower Mainland in time for Christmas, I can always send holiday wishes via Zoom.

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