A week into a strike (to refuse to continue working because of an argument with an employer about working conditions, pay levels, or job losses罷工) postal workers in Canada began Sept. 25, a sense of disconnection was setting in at the village of Fort Simpson, in the Far North(聯合報譯者註，加拿大的北極地區或極北，該區占加拿大陸地總面積的39%，人口占比不到1%，乃是「偏鄉連結」與「原住民權利」的現代治理挑戰。) of Canada.
For communities like Fort Simpson, the
Canada Post—the long-ailing(劍橋字典，experiencing difficulty and problems), government-owned
postal service—is essential, and for a lot more than just letters. Medication, spare parts(劍橋字典，an extra piece that can
be used to replace a piece that breaks, esp. in a machine，零件) and business supplies all arrive by mail delivered only by Canada
Post.
Fort Simpson, a cluster of homes on an island,
is, by many
measures(AI 摘要"By many measures" 從各方面看，意思是指「從很多不同的標準或角度來看」。它可以用來引述各種證據、指標或評估標準，來支持或解釋一個論點。
從各方面看：這個片語的意思是從各種不同的衡量標準、角度或指標來進行評估。
用於支持論點：在句子中，它常被用來引出支持某個觀點的論據，表示「從很多標準來看，這都是成立的」。
範例：「By many measures, this is a successful project.」 翻譯成中文就是「從很多方面來看，這是一個成功的專案。」), tiny and remote—a community of roughly 1,100 an hour’s flight away
from the capital of the Northwest Territories, Yellowknife. But in the
ecosystem of the Canadian North, which is dotted with even smaller hamlets(AI 摘要「Hamlets」可以指兩個不同的概念：威廉·莎士比亞的著名悲劇劇本《哈姆雷特》，或指規模小於城鎮或村莊的人類聚落。在文學上，《哈姆雷特》是莎士比亞最受讚譽的悲劇之一，其中包含了「生存還是毀滅」等著名獨白。作為一個地點，它指的是一個小型的聚落，有時也被稱為「小村莊」。) of just a handful of people living above the 60th parallel
(The 60th parallel north is a circle of latitude
that is 60 degrees north of Earth's equator. It crosses Europe, Asia, the
Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean.北緯60度，表意極圈), Fort Simpson, with its
police station, bank and post office, is actually a vital hub. It serves as the
nearest point for essential retail, banking and medical services for Sambaa K’e,
Nahanni Butte and other communities reachable predominantly (mostly or mainly) by air.
The embattled(having a
lot of problems or difficulties) Canada Post
is a core part of what connects these remote places and their residents to one
another, to vital services and to the rest of Canada, the world’s second-largest
nation by landmass(a large area of land such as a continent that is in one
piece and not broken up by oceans) after Russia.
Prime Minister Mark Carney was elected this
year on a promise to defend Canada’s sovereignty(the power of a
country to control its own government主權，統治權) and knit
closer(to join together更緊密的連結) the vast territory, much of
which is largely uninhabited. Providing services to all Canadians is seen as a
state obligation, and many also want to ensure that Indigenous(劍橋字典，used to refer to the
people who originally lived in a place, rather than people who moved there from
somewhere else, or to things that relate to these people) people can continue
to live on their ancestral lands(AI 摘要，Ancestral lands are the
lands and territories belonging to indigenous cultural peoples or communities,
which include not only the physical environment but also the spiritual and
cultural bonds to it.劍橋字典，ancestral, relating
to members of your family from ...聯合報解析為世居地；並解析Far North是指加拿大原住民世居地)with Canada Post playing a key role
keeping them connected to the rest of country.
But Canada Post is in a protracted (lasting for a long time or made to last longer than necessary)existential crisis(聯合報解析，報導中existential crisis 不僅指機構面臨存續困境，更涉及其社會角色的失效與制度正當性的崩解), hampered( to prevent someone doing something easily )by collapsing mail volumes and competition from private companies with fewer labor protections. It has needed billions in taxpayer-funded cash injections (the introduction of something new that is necessary or helpful to a situation or process此處指挹注，注資) to continue operating, and the current government wants to cancel door-to-door delivery for million of homes, consolidate (to become, or cause something to become, stronger, and more certain聯合報解析consolidate service為整併，是節流的方式之一，並說此詞隱含「效率邏輯」與「邊陲犧牲」的政策張力，是新自由主義治理的典型語彙，涉及公共服務整併的倫理與政治:誰被整併?誰得利?誰失聲?社會學層面可延伸至「空間正義」與「服務可近性」(service accessibility)的討論) services and shut down some rural post offices to reduce costs.
Such cuts would probably lead to major layoffs
(an occasion when a company stops employing someone, sometimes temporarily,
because the company does not have enough money or enough work) among
the service’s 68,000 employees, and members of the labor union representing
postal workers walked off (to leave a place because you are angry
or unhappy about something，聯合報翻譯為罷工) the job after the government announced its proposed cutback in services.
(Matina Stevis-Gridneff)
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