Holiday fundraising hamstrung by Canada Post strike, P.E.I. hospital foundations say [Video]

The charities that raise money for the two largest hospitals on Prince Edward Island say the ongoing Canada Post strike is putting a kink in fundraising efforts leading up to Christmas. 

“We do rely quite a bit on mailed-in donations,” said Tracey Comeau, CEO of the Charlottetown-based Queen Elizabeth Hospital Foundation. 

Money raised by the charity helps buy medical equipment for the hospital. 

On this year’s wish list: a surgical table designed for cystoscopies, procedures done to treat kidney stones, bladder cancer and prostate disease. 

“More than 700 Islanders per year rely on this equipment,” Comeau said. “We want to ensure that that equipment is not delayed because of delayed donations.”  

Thousands of Canada Post workers walked off the job on Nov. 15, halting deliveries of letters and packages across the country at the start of the holiday season.

Federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon on Wednesday called on all parties …