Because of the effects of new government legislation, Robinsons Foods will no longer offer Western Union money transfers as of March 31.
Although likely not a major concern for Canadian citizens, the news came as quite a shock to a number of Jasper’s temporary foreign workers and permanent residents who regularly use the service to send money home to their families overseas.
Janice Dewar, who has been working at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge for nearly nine years, transfers money to her family in Jamaica at least once a month, if not twice. She said, with the discontinuation of the service locally, now she has to go to Hinton to ensure her family will receive those funds.
“If it is in Hinton, in summer it’s not bad, it’s a distance, yes, but it’s a little bit easier. But in winter, it is very difficult,” she said, referring to the variable driving conditions that occur on Highway 16 during the winter.
There are online options for transferring money, but Dewar said it can be nearly three times as expensive to go that route; and the post office offers MoneyGrams, but it is only open Monday to Friday during regular business hours, so for many shift workers, it is difficult to get there.
“I hope that someone in Jasper is willing to take [over Western Union], so they can help us,” she said. “I hope for that. I’m praying for that because we do need it.”
Robinsons Foods has been operating the service since it renovated its store in 2008, but as a result of amendments to the federal government’s Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, it has become impractical to continue.
“They have a new regulation now that considers businesses that do this kind of thing [a high risk],” explained Diana Laarz, who owns Robinsons Foods with her partner Ray Robinson. “That’s because this is a good way for terrorists to launder their money, through these things. So it means that our insurance rates go up because we’re considered in a high risk category for offering Western Union.”
“This is a fairly new process,” added Robinson, “and it could affect our borrowing ability and stuff like that, so it’s not worth it for us.
“It’s just your typical government bureaucracy, knee-jerk reaction to a perceived threat. It’s quite irritating, actually.”
Robinson found out about the legislative changes in mid-March and immediately put a sign on his store window, informing the public that the service would be discontinued.
He said it’s bad enough that he and Laarz have to undergo annual criminal record checks just to keep Western Union in their store; to add additional insurance costs and flag the business as a high risk is more than he’s willing to take—especially since the service isn’t financially viable in the first place.
Although Robinsons Foods sees numerous transactions per day, it’s remuneration for each one is so small that it doesn’t balance out.
“With Western Union we don’t even make enough money to pay one employee in a year,” said Laarz.
“It’s a service that’s offered for nothing and then when you consider all of the hassles that we put up with; it’s just not worth it.”
Western Union refused to comment for this story, saying in an email “we will be in a better position to advise you of the status of Robinsons in a few weeks.
“In the meantime our customers can still access our services through their bank account via Scotiabank or Bank of Montreal.”
Neither bank has a branch in Jasper.
Nicole Veerman
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