After withdrawing their reference question to the New Brunswick Court of Appeal the provincial government has left the bilingual bus issue with school districts, a move they say will help increase the efficiency of the system.
“We think they’re very well placed to know exactly what types of realities, challenges and opportunities there are in their communities,” explained Premier Brian Gallant. “We’re going to give that power to the districts and we have no doubt they’ll do a great job with it.”
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“That’s where they have the expertise, at the local level, because they know their local area,” said Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Brian Kenny.
Despite backing away from seeking clarity on the constitutionality of a dual language bus system, the province maintains they will continue trying to improve the services provided to students.
“We’re looking at the fleet, age of the fleet, technologies that are there,” explained Kenny. “Using GPS technologies to look at the bus routes to see if there can be efficiencies there.”
It’s a move Opposition Leader Blaine Higgs agrees with.
“If we’re going to allow districts to play a role in moving forward with our education I’m all for that I think it’s wonderful,” said Higgs.
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The former Finance Minister argued that in the past, when left to their own devices, communities have often improved their transportation situations, and without government interference they would be free to do so once again.
“We saw regions that were working together,” he said. “They found transportation similarities or efficiencies that said ‘look we’re driving right by there we can pick up these kids’ and so they worked together to do that and I would say let them figure out what makes sense.”
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