Objectors try to derail STC successors
Diane Smith is not aiming to replace the Saskatchewan Transportation Company.
“I am not STC. I am not claiming to be STC, and I am not taking over an STC route,” Smith told her five objectors at Tuesday’s second Highway Traffic Board (HTB) public hearing in Regina.
Two university professors and two lawyers were among the people opposing two companies’ applications for transportation operating authority certificates.
Smith’s Melville-based DiCal Transport was one.
“I’m not opposed to DiCal,” said Regina lawyer Larry Kowalchuk. “I’m objecting to the way everything has been handled … I’m objecting to the process.”
He and his counterparts are requesting that a public inquiry be conducted before any application is approved.
The other application subject to an HTB public hearing on Tuesday was Hasan Topal’s. His Reginabased company, 101266444 Saskatchewan Ltd., was incorporated in September 2014 to install flooring.
That was an issue for Cindy Hanson, a Saskatoon resident who works in Regina and is an activist with Save the STC.
Should the board consider giving a transportation licence to a flooring company, that “in some way makes a joke of the Highway Traffic Board,” she said.
Three board members — Deb Mutlow, Barb de la Sablonniere and Dan Wiks — oversaw the hearing.
Ten hearings have been scheduled, one for each opposed application. The board has 30 days to decide to grant or deny operating authority certificates.
Normally an applicant would present its case at the hearing. Topal was not present, which government spokesman Drew Wilby said was “a surprise.”
Edenwold resident Martin Wooldridge called Topal’s application “totally inadequate and threadbare.”
As a former transportation consultant, he said someone can’t get into transportation without understanding the business.
Smith and her husband Calvin started DiCal Transport in 2010. In addition to delivering goods across Saskatchewan, the company does twice-daily runs from Melville and Yorkton to Regina.
They hope to add weekday passenger service with stops in Yorkton, Melville, Balcarres, Fort Qu’Appelle and Regina in a newly purchased 2017 Ford Transit van.
“In the background of all of this is what the (STC) was providing. So a lot of what we’re hearing from the opposition is in context of that,” said Wilby.
Safety was a major concern, as was cost of service and accommodation for vulnerable passengers, including cancer patients and people with disabilities.
STC buses were equipped with cameras and the Zonar safety system, said Hanson, which allowed drivers to easily connect with ground transportation and police, track the speed of the bus, the hours the driver spent behind the wheel, and maintenance issues.
STC drivers were also trained to de-escalate dangerous situations.
STC had “exemplary” safety standards, and new companies should have the same standard, said Hanson.
Kowalchuk pointed to those same issues.
“All of those were taken care of, by law, under our public transportation system. We don’t know from a single application whether they’re going to take care of those and how,” said Kowalchuk. “I think we should know those things, and those are all requirements of the law.”
He said a public inquiry must be conducted before any applications are approved.
“There is no evidence before you in (Topal’s) application, or any others, that talk about the social wellbeing of Saskatchewan, and that’s part of your mandate,” Kowalchuk told the board.
Neither application heard Tuesday provides for transportation of people with disabilities, said JoAnn Jaffe, also a member of Save the STC.
One in five disabled people rely on public transportation in Canada, she added, and people with disabilities are protected by the human rights code.
Smith said her employees have criminal record checks and Class 4 drivers’ licences, as required by SGI. Further, drivers are trained in CPR, first aid and a variety of courses in de-escalating situations of conflict.
“The guys have taken 11 courses in de-escalation and recognizing the signs that somebody is becoming agitated,” said Smith.
“Being the owner of DiCal, I don’t only worry about my drivers but I worry about my passengers and my customers, so it was important to me as well to know that they would be taken care of.”
Jaffe mentioned safety concerns surrounding 15-passenger vans. The vans are sold by automotive dealers, Smith replied, and are used across the province.
“If they’re that unsafe, they wouldn’t be used,” said Smith.
Saskatoon lawyer Doug Racine said the opponents were unable to put a critical eye to the application because DiCal’s business plan was not provided. Smith and the board agreed business plans had to remain confidential.