Ontario Hansard - 21-October2004
SCHOOL BUS SAFETY

Ms Laurie Scott (Haliburton-Victoria-Brock): My question today is for the Minister of Education. All across the province children's lives are being disrupted because of your government not providing the proper supports for local school boards. Your government has made massive cuts in some of the rural and Catholic school boards. These cuts affect people's lives. They affect people like Denise Barrett, from the Durham District School Board. Does it make any sense for an older sibling to get a ride in a bus while their younger sibling cannot be transported even though there are surplus seats, thus leaving a four-year-old behind on the sidewalk?

These cuts create problems in places like Chatham Kent school board, where they've had to adopt a multi-tiered school and bus schedule. Because of this, the high school students are picked up from school and start their day earlier than the younger siblings. These cuts have created problems in my own riding of Haliburton-Victoria-Brock. I spoke in the spring session about the problems faced by the Carden and Dalton area. I'd like an answer. They've sent their children to Simcoe area schools for generations.

Arbitrary boundaries are being set by bureaucrats, barriers that prevent parents from sending their children to their community schools. Why are you forcing these choices on school boards? Why are you making it harder for working families to get their children safely off to school and back again? Why are you forcing school boards to go to ridiculous lengths to satisfy your set of rules?

Hon Gerard Kennedy (Minister of Education): The House and the public and indeed the parents in the boards just named -- there's one thing those boards have in common with all the boards across this province: Their transportation funding went up this year. We improved transportation funding by 5% this year, starting -- I know this is a new member who doesn't bear the full responsibility -- to make up for some of the damage done by her party when it was in government. So a 5% increase, $32 million, is a good start. We've also put forward some plans on how transportation can be improved. Every board received at least a 2% increase. Some received as much as a 12% increase to start helping them to do better.

We agreed there should be a first duty on the part of boards to make sure kids are transported safely. There have been incidents this week that don't point to any blame but that remind us we have that duty in this House. We believe our funding is there to do that. We are in dialogue with all the boards. I know it's sometimes a difficult concept, but we're actually not making any changes in transportation without first talking to school boards. We are actually working with them very closely on how transportation in this province can be done even better than it is today. All the boards got more money this year than they did last year.

Ms Scott: It is a concern for safety for children. I'm glad he's consulting with the school boards, because the complaints are many. Later today we'll be debating Bill 73, dealing with children's safety. Minister, safety does not begin when a child gets on a school bus. There is a bus stop located in the riding of my colleague Norm Miller that is unsafe. It's at the corner of Bailey Street and Harris Street in Port Carling. A local parent has even gone so far as to have an audit done showing this is not a safe place to put a bus stop. Why are you forcing school boards to make choices that put children's safety at risk?

Minister, Garfield Dunlop and I wrote to you on behalf of Carden-Dalton in March. It took five months to get an answer. We have written you last week to sit down with the two school boards involved and resolve this issue for the children's safety. Will you meet with the Trillium Lakelands school board and the Simcoe school board?

Hon Mr Kennedy: There is an effort underway right now working with boards on transportation. They are being very helpful. In fact, they helped design a new transportation funding formula that is having a lot of attention around the province, as it should. Most other governments put out their funding formulas and then talk to the people that are affected. We're doing that a year ahead of time, and we will do that with safety as a paramount concern, I want to assure the member opposite.

I would take this moment to invite them to support the bus safety bill we have coming forward this afternoon. I would expect to have the support of all the members of the House. I remember sitting exactly in her position and hearing time after time how Mr Hoy, a member of this House, brought forward bus safety legislation, over and over again, and could not get the agreement of her party when in government.

We take those responsibilities very seriously. I look for agreement with all members to make sure our students are transported safely every day to school.