A school bus driver for more than 15 years, Barry Wilding says the safety of his students is always his top priority — so receiving a $50 ticket when trying to drop students off safely left him unsettled.
On Monday, Sept. 23, Wilding was taking children from St. Michael Catholic Elementary School to St. Vincent De Paul Church, a routine he has done multiple times a year for the last twelve years.
But, when parked at his usual spot, Wilding was told to move.
“I said, ‘Well we’ve done this for years, what are we doing wrong?’” Wilding told The Lake Report.
He noted that this Monday was rainy and his passengers included kids in kindergarten to grade six.
When the bylaw officer requested Wilding wait for pickup at Fort George, he refused saying that he would not make kids walk in the rain.
He was then issued a $50 ticket, paid by his employer Switzer-Carti Transportation Inc.
When Wilding later checked how much it would cost him to pick up the students at Fort George, an attendant told him it would cost $55, he said.
When The Lake Report asked the town why this happened, communications co-ordinator Marah Minor said buses violate the weight restriction bylaws in that section Old Town.
“The town’s bylaws need to be revised to allow this,” she said in an email.
The town is recruiting a staff position which will be responsible for reviewing and recommending bylaw updates, until then town officers look for “reasonable compromise and co-operation,” Minor said.
The Lake Report reached out to Emma Fera-Massi, the principal of St. Michael, but she refused to comment.
This was the first she had heard of the incident and she will be looking into it alongside communications director Jennifer Pellegrini, Fera-Massi said.
This isn’t the first time Wilding has been issued a ticket from bylaw officers.
In May, he was driving a group of conference attendees from Niagara Falls to NOTL in his school bus.
“When it was time to pick them up, I told them I would pick them up at a spot in front of the Royal George Theatre where there’s a bus loading/unloading zone,” Wilding said.
A previous bylaw officer advised him to do this, Wilding said.
He was issued two $50 tickets during this pickup, one of which was discarded after appealing them.
He let that instance go, Wilding said, but being ticketed when picking up students was unacceptable.
Along with a letter submitted to The Lake Report this week, Wilding submitted a letter addressed to the Lord Mayor and all councillors, he said.
The letter was answered by fire chief Jay Plato, who said the issue would be brought up as a learning experience at the next meeting, Wilding said.
Wilding asked what committee the issue was covered by so that he could come to the meeting to which Plato said it is not overseen by a committee.
If he wants to be present for discussion, Plato told him he would have to register a delegation during a council meeting, Wilding said.
“I don’t think we’ll see much action,” he said.
Living in NOTL for 51 years, Wilding was once on the town committee for parking alongside Gary Burroughs, he said.
“It’s a problem in this town, no matter what you do it’s always going to be a problem,” he said.
With his letter to The Lake Report and council, Wilding was hoping bylaw officers would turn a blind eye to dropping off school children at St. Vincent De Paul, Wilding’s wife Louise said.
Hiring a new staff member and revising the bylaw is a start, Wilding said.
Wilding and his wife have travelled around North America, whether it be for work or a vacation and have never had parking issues like those experienced in NOTL, Louise said.
