West coast bus operator fined $3,600
Ronald Thomas wanted the court to know that while defects were found in several of his buses they did not present an immediate safety problem to the children who road on them.
His lawyer, Gerard Martin, made the comment on his behalf during an appearance in provincial court in Corner Brook on Monday.
Thomas and his company, C-mac Construction, were scheduled to go to trial on charges under the Highway Traffic Act in relation to school bus inspection infractions.
However, the Deer Lake man entered a guilty plea to one charge of issuing inspection certificates without proper inspections being done.
He also entered guilty pleas on behalf C-mac Construction to charges of issuing inspection certificates without the proper inspection of the buses and failing to submit vehicle inspection certificates.
Three other charges, one against Thomas and two against the company, for the same offences that guilty pleas were entered on, were withdrawn upon Judge Wayne Gorman entering convictions.
Thomas and C-mac Construction were charged in January after the company’s school bus contract was suspended over alleged inspection infractions and 16 buses in its two fleets located in Deer Lake and Stephenville were taken off the road.
On Jan. 6 the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District contacted a highway enforcement officer in regards to a school bus operated by C-mac in Deer Lake. A strange noise had been detected coming from the bus when it dropped students off.
The same bus had broken down on two previous occasions, including losing power near Cormack. Issues were noted with other buses as well.
An inspection of the buses in question found several defects.
Later all C-mac buses in Deer Lake and Stephenville were inspected and the charges were laid against Thomas as the inspecting mechanic and against the company as the official inspection station and as the contractor.
The Crown sought the minimum fine of $1,200 for each charge along with a one-year suspension of Thomas’s official mechanics certificate, which he had already given up.
Martin agreed it was a proper case for the minimum fine.
He said Thomas wanted to make the point that this was not intentional or knowingly done and the inspections were done according to what he thought were the requirements of the inspection manual.
Martin said Thomas has been a mechanic for quite a number of years and has operated school buses for 30 years without incident. He noted the charges came at a time when there was a very serious problem involving a bus company on the east coast and that prompted more inspections.
Gorman agreed with the suggested fines and ordered Thomas to pay the total $3,600, plus a provincial surcharge within six months. He also ordered the suspension of Thomas’s mechanics certificate for one year.