Workers at Parksville’s post office were back on the job Friday – one day after the building was evacuated due to a suspicious package.
Oceanside RCMP Sgt. Steve Rose said a postal worker was processing the mail on Thursday, when a powdered substance became apparent on a package.
Workers and customers were asked to leave the building and the office was immediately closed as experts were called to investigate.
Rose said RCMP do not know where the package came from or where it was headed.
A team from the Clandestine Synthetic Drug Laboratories from the Lower Mainland arrived in Parksville Thursday night to investigate.
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Canada Post media relations office told the PQB News on Friday the substance was “determined not to be harmful.” According to police, it was found to be a grooming product. Once the all-clear was given by the authorities, staff returned to work.
“Canada Post takes the safety and security of its employees, customers and the mail very seriously,” Canada Post officials reported. “We have internal safety and security procedures that were followed.”
Workers declined comment on Friday.
Parksville Canada Post employees had been off work Wednesday as part of rotating strikes around the country, but Rose said he doesn’t believe the substance has any connection to that.
Jill Davies was in the Parksville post office with a friend when the evacuation was issued at approximately 10:30 a.m.
“We were sending a package and suddenly she (Canada Post employee) said ‘you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go,'” Davies said. “They evacuated it very quickly, there weren’t many people in there it was pretty quiet.”
— with a file from Karly Blats
