Sudbury student shares frustration with school bus cancellations
Denika Legault, a Grade 11 student at College Notre Dame in Sudbury, says frequent problems with school buses this year have sometimes left her in the cold.
Legault said her high school experience has been anything but normal so far.
“It's been pretty difficult," she said. "It's hard to keep stable grades because one day we’re online then were at school then we’re told to go to school without any transportation. So it's been pretty difficult, but we’re trying our best.”
Legault said there are currently no options for learning from home if students have to isolate or don’t have transportation. She said that is unfair.
“I’ve been left twice without a bus so far," she said.
"Once it was in the morning and I was waiting outside and it was like -40 outside and I waited outside for 20 minutes and it never came and there was nothing (from) the bus consortium about my bus.”
Renée Boucher of the Sudbury Student Services Consortium said the organization does its best to make sure all of the necessary information is available on its website. https://www.businfo.ca/en/
“Every morning on our website we post the cancellations under our announcements but we also have a section for delays, and so just a reminder for parents to verify,” said Boucher.
She said a driver shortage and constant sick calls are to blame for the cancelled bus routes in Sudbury, but said the situation is improving.
“We have four school bus routes that are being cancelled this week because of the driver shortage, so that is much, much better than before Christmas, so it's coming along," Boucher said.
"We are training drivers and keeping them behind the wheels of our buses. One of our biggest issues right now is drivers who are either ill themselves or they reside with someone who is symptomatic.”
She said last on Jan. 21, 28 routes were cancelled due to isolation rules. On Monday, it was 16. Boucher said she's hopeful this week will be better than the last.
But ultimately, she said the problem will only be solved once there are extra drivers on the roster to cover sick calls.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.