Nova Scotia’s largest school bus operator has responded to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board’s finding that it repeatedly violated its licenses, obstructed investigators, attempted to conceal information about deficiencies or infractions and required drivers to work beyond what was allowed on their licences.
Terri Lowe, Chieft Operating Officer of Stock Transportation Ltd. said that company is fully cooperating with authorities and revealed that the man in charge of the region, Troy Phinney, is no longer employed by the company.
“While we investigate, we can confirm that Troy Phinney is no longer an employee of the company and has not been for several months,” Lowe wrote in a statement.
“His actions described in the report were not fully known to our management team. This appears to be an isolated incident with a manager with complete disregard for company procedures and operating regulations.”
Global News has attempted to contact Phinney but has yet to receive a response.
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In a 180-page ruling released on Tuesday, the province’s regulator has limited Stock Transportation Ltd.’s ability to run a charter service but decided against shutting down the company’s school bus licences — at least for the moment.
Although the UARB was not looking into the company’s school bus licences in this specific decision, the regulator did express concern over the “safety of the public including school children.”
The board turned a large portion of its wrath on Stock’s regional manager Phinney, stating that at points, he attempted to portray ignorance about many of the province’s regulations, acts and orders.
The regulator said it didn’t believe his claims of ignorance, arguing that with his eight years in the position of regional manager, that the information he provided them was misleading and “at times deceitful.”
Lowe says that the company has already taken steps to address some of the issues identified in the report and will continue to work on every issue in the regulator’s report.
“For several months, we have had a new senior leadership team in place in Nova Scotia. We are fully and appropriately licensed to operate in Nova Scotia. Safety remains our top priority and we will not tolerate employees who act in contrary to that,” she wrote in a statement.
According to the decision, Stock operates around 500 vehicles, and 98 per cent of its business is centred on providing school bus services to the Halifax Regional School Board, the Annapolis Valley Regional School Board and the Conseil Scolaire Acadien Provincial.
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The chair of the Halifax Regional School Board says the information that Stock Transportation broke a number of rules “is concerning” but parents shouldn’t feel concerned.
“If Halifax Regional School Board thought there was a safety concern, we would address the issue, and we would terminate the contract or address it with Stock,” said Gin Yee in an interview on Thursday.
Yee said that the school board will meet with the company early next year to discuss the matter.
The provincial regulator also found that two non-unionized drivers had their employment terminated because they refused to exceed their regulated number of on duty hours.
The Nova Scotia Government and General Employees union said in a written statement that it represents almost 400 workers employed by Stock Transportation.
“If these employees were terminated for refusing unsafe work, the Department of Labour and Advanced Education MUST launch an immediate investigation,” read the written statement.
A spokesperson for the department said that it reviews the termination of employees when formal complaints are filed. Those complaints are confidential.
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