As responses go … it wasn’t much.
Minister of Education Kathleen Wynne recently replied to Wellington North council’s concerns about changes in local school bus contracts.
She noted that her colleague, Perth-Wellington MPP John Wilkinson, had forwarded Wellington North’s resolution regarding Ontario’s student bus transportation reform.
Councillors voiced concern about the impact to local businesses losing bus routes to multinational companies.
Council endorsed a petition circulating in the area which is against the request for proposal (RFP) process being used by school boards in the school transportation industry.
The petition states, “The RFP process is causing hardship to small school bus operators and their employees throughout Ontario.”
Further, it stated “The RFP process has awarded school bus runs throughout Ontario to multinational school bus operators.”
The petition claims, “The Ministry of Education is using property tax to aid in the growth of multi-national own ed school bus companies which, in turn, affects small, local, family owned school transportation companies.”
Council had endorsed the petition and requested the pro-vince end the RFP process as it affects school bus transportation.
Wynne replied, “I recognize the contributions of local operators and their role in providing safe, effective and efficient services to students and their communities.
“We are working with our transportation partners to modernize the acquisition of transportation services in the province to enhance fairness, accountability, and transparency. It is a priority of our government to ensure the stability of the sector during the course of the reforms, and we will continue to collaborate with our key transportation stakeholders to ensure these goals are met.”
She added, “As stated with the announcement of the three competitive pilot projects, with the projects now complete, we will review and evaluate the results of the process and will implement refinements or changes that reflect lessons learned. At the end of April, roundtable feedback discussions were held with all the stakeholders involved in the competitive procurement pilot process. I have committed to continue to meet with operators to discuss their perspective before decisions are made.
She concluded, “We must continue to work together to ensure that we are funding the safest, most reliable, cost-effective student transportation service in Ontario. I look forward to working with our partners as we continue to make improvements through our transportation reforms.”
The letter was accepted by council as information.
