Quebec school bus service still not finalized days before academic year begins
School bus service may not be in place at the start of the school year after all, despite an agreement in principle made last week.
On Friday, the province and the Fédération des transporteurs par autobus (FTA) announced it had come to a last-minute agreement, ensuring "a reliable and safe transportation service for all students for the start of the school year."
That agreement, however, means that it is then up to each school board and service centre to come to an agreement with the carrier or carriers in its territory, using the budget available to it.
Most unions have decided they will not accept their offers, including boards on the island of Montreal.
The Centre de services scolaires de Montréal said that "despite intensive negotiations over the past several months," it has still not been able to conclude a contract with most of its carriers.
One Montreal transport company said on the island alone, it could affect at least 30,000 pupils.
"The current offer, what was proposed on Friday, it makes for a really hard choice for carriers as myself. We come back down to two things: either we maintain safe and secure busses or we have a lack of funding for the drivers, which comes down to the kids' safety," said Andrew Jones, owner of Elite Transport.
School boards are scrambling to figure out how they will open school, with the Montreal CSS telling parents to "plan alternative ways to transport their children in the event that the service is not provided in time for the start of the new school year."
One English school board said it is considering other options, like extended school hours to accommodate working parents, though nothing has been finalized.
Those arrangements still won't work for many parents, said Katherine Korakakis, president of the English Parents Committee Association, especially those who do not have flexible shifts.
"Many people can't have a Plan B, so what do we do then? It's a serious, serious problem. School is a right. Every child has a right to go to school, and bussing is an integral part," she said.
The spokesperson for Education Minister Jean-Francois Roberge said he is not available for comment today.
Students in the English school boards on the island of Montreal head back to class next week. Classes in the French system start on Friday.
- With files from The Canadian Press
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Prince William and Kate release photo of daughter Charlotte to mark ninth birthday
Prince William and his wife Kate released a picture of their daughter Charlotte to mark the princess's ninth birthday on Thursday.
Weight-loss drug Wegovy available in Canada starting May 6
The makers of Ozempic say their weight-loss drug Wegovy will be available to patients in Canada starting Monday.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Goring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
NEW A mother's hopes to free her son from a Syrian prison is revitalized by a new human rights report
Just days before the seventh anniversary of the day Jack Letts was thrown in prison with thousands of suspected ISIS fighters, his mother, Sally Lane, delivered a small stack of envelopes to the headquarters of Global Affairs Canada in Ottawa.
NEW Companies letting customers opt out of Mother's Day ads
In an effort to balance the profitability of Mother's Day with the pain it causes some people, some brands are offering customers the choice to opt out of Mother's Day email advertising.
DEVELOPING Police begin removing barricades at a pro-Palestinian demonstrators' encampment at UCLA
Police removed barricades and began dismantling a pro-Palestinian demonstrators’ fortified encampment early Thursday at the UCLA campus after hundreds of protesters defied police orders to leave, about 24 hours after counter-protesters attacked a tent encampment on the campus.
Dental care program accepting claims for 1 million seniors
Citizens' Services Minister Terry Beech says 1,200 seniors have already visited a dentist and had their claims processed by the federal government's new dental care plan.
Concerns about Plexiglas prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglas barriers.
NEW Facial reconstruction reveals what a 40-something Neanderthal woman may have looked like
Scientists studying a Neanderthal woman's remains have painstakingly pieced together her skull from 200 bone fragments to understand what she may have looked like.