(PERTH) – MPP Randy Hillier (Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington) expressed his concern over the political correctness being practiced by the Tri-Board Student Transportation Services.
A news story out of Kingston today reported that two drivers operating buses for Stover Bus Lines were directed in an email from Tri-Board Student Transportation Services’ supervisor Brenda Chalk that they must remove Christmas decorations from the buses they operate, or risk having Stover Bus Lines lose their contract with Tri-Board. In a subsequent interview, Chalk made the reasoning for the Tri-Board’s policy unequivocally clear: “We transport students from a variety of ethnic and religious groups...”
Alarmed by the directive, Hillier contacted Brenda Chalk, who redirected his call to Steve Wowk, Manager for Tri-Board Student Transportation Services. In the conversation, Mr. Wowk contradicted Ms. Chalk’s reasoning, suggesting that the email had been unfortunately worded, and that public safety, rather than the fear of offending non-Christians, was at the heart of their concern.
“To suggest that a few decorations on a bus is a dangerous distraction to other drivers on the road is ridiculous, and is a weak attempt to cover the true motivation,” remarked Hillier. “If decorations were a distraction to be banned, so would all advertising on commercial vehicles…the very idea is ludicrous.”
“This intolerance towards Christmas tradition is hypocritical of the very tolerance we expect our children to show to each other,” noted Hillier.
People can register their concern with this policy directly to the Tri-Board Student Transportation Service at 613-354-1981. Manager Steve Wowk can be reached at extension 324 and Supervisor Brenda Chalk is at extension 312.
Those who oppose this policy are also invited to sign a petition at Hillier’s Napanee Constituency Office at 4 Market Square in Napanee.
Randy Hillier, MPP Lanark Frontenac Lennox, is a co-founder of the Lanark Landowners Association, which was brought to life to address government imposition on the rights of private property owners, and to address the regressive regulatory impositions that government was bringing down upon farmers and business owners in rural Ontario.
In 2006, Randy resigned as President of the OLA in order to run as a candidate for the Progressive Conservatives. Randy was elected in the 2007 provincial election.
Randy a long-time resident of Lanark County, an electrician by trade and member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), continues to co-publish and edit rural Ontario’s successful magazine “The Landowner.”
