Acadian seeks transit subsidies

Acadian Lines, which has locked out workers on what it says are money-losing bus routesin New Brunswick and P.E.I., is looking for a government subsidy.

Groupe Orleans Express, the parent company of Acadian Lines, is seeking a meeting with the New Brunswick government to end the five-week lockout.

Acadian Lines workers have been lockedout since Dec. 2, shutting down the only bus link between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

There are no scheduled talks between the union and the company, but the company hopes the New Brunswick government can help solve the lockout.

Groupe Orleans Express wants to discuss the potential for the New Brunswick government to introduce provincial subsidies to help finance the bus connection. Group Orleans Express said the company does not have to pay provincial diesel tax in Quebec, a move that knocks almost 18 cents a litre off the company's fuel costs in that province.

John Pearce, a past president of the Transport Action Atlantic lobby group, supports the idea.

"The company pays no gas tax. It's a way of subsidizing. But it's really that they're not taxing a service that is important to the public," Pearce said.

"So the Quebec government is quite supportive."

An Acadian Lines spokesperson said if the New Brunswick governmentoffered a similar exemption, it would save the company up to $300,000 annually.

According to the company, Acadian Lines lost around $2 million running buses in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island last year.

The company, however, will not be asking for a fuel tax exemption in Prince Edward Island, because the majority, if not all, of the refueling is done in New Brunswick.

'A drop in the bucket'

The New Brunswick government is in the process of constraining public spending. Premier David Alward and Finance Minister Blaine Higgs have repeatedly said there will be tough decisions made in the March budget.

But Pearce said the proposed subsidy does not amount toa lot of money.

"The subsidy would be less than a million a year, and compared to the highways budget, it's a drop in the bucket," he said.

"The highways budget would be 500 times this, so it doesn't seem as though there is a problema small subsidy, you know, very small compared to the road budget."

The Amalgamated Transit Union is against the idea. Glen Carr, president of local 1229, representing the locked-out workers, said the union doesn't want to see any government money go to Acadian Lines.

But the union is looking for government action. It is asking the federal government to legislate the company back to work. It also wantstomeet with the New Brunswick government. Carr saiditplans to ask Premier David Alward to pull Acadian Lines' licence to operate in the province, if the federal government will not legislate the company back to work.

The lockout has created new discussion around the need forpublic transitand alternate services to shuttle people between the two provinces.

A Summerside companyis seeking to start a new service that would take people between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

New Brunswicks Energy and Utilities Board may hold a meeting in late February to discuss the proposal.

Advanced Shuttle Services is hoping to have the service operating by mid-March.