BY MIKE YOUDS

Special to the B次元官网网址

Public pressure for mandatory seatbelts on school buses has grown louder since a Port Alberni school trustee raised the concern among fellow board members this fall.

Trustee Rosemarie Buchanan was among viewers who tuned in to recent episodes of CBCB次元官网网址檚 Fifth Estate, reporting that thousands of Canadian kids have been injured or killed because school buses are not equipped with seatbelts.

The show highlighted a petition launched by Gary Lillico, an Agassiz school bus driver, calling for Transport Canada to require seatbelts. More than 45,000 people have signed the petition since it was posted by Change.org.

Buchanan recalls raising the seatbelt concern as a newly elected school trustee almost 40 years ago. She questions why a 2010 Transport Canada study, which determined that seatbelts would prevent injuries and save lives, was not released to the public.

B次元官网网址淲ho was manipulating this and to whose benefit?B次元官网网址�

The issue was thrust into the spotlight after the Humboldt Broncos tragedy last spring, though that collision involved a motor coach, not a school bus.

When Buchanan raised her concern again at the first meeting of the new school board last month, trustees agreed to flag it for wider consideration by the B.C. School Trustees Association. Trustees gathered at the regional B次元官网网址渁cademyB次元官网网址� of school boards held recently in Vancouver, but the issue wasnB次元官网网址檛 brought to the floor.

B次元官网网址淭here was some discussion, but I think weB次元官网网址檙e in a bit of a holding pattern,B次元官网网址� she said.

The estimated cost of retrofitting the Alberni Valley school bus fleet is $7,000 to $10,000 per vehicle, she said. There are only a half dozen or so buses in the fleet, but equipping them could be complicated by seating configurations that vary between elementary and secondary students.

B次元官网网址淲e havenB次元官网网址檛 actually sat down as a group and gone over it,B次元官网网址� Buchanan said. B次元官网网址淚 think we are all on the right side of the issue.B次元官网网址�

School board chair Pam Craig said the matter has been considered only in preliminary fashion and would be pursued by the provincial body, not locally.

B次元官网网址淚t wouldnB次元官网网址檛 be us as a school district dealing with it. It would be the larger body looking into it,B次元官网网址� Craig said. B次元官网网址淚f it does come forward, it will be at the April AGM.

There are counter arguments that suggest buses are designed to be safer than other passenger vehicles and donB次元官网网址檛 need seatbelts as a result. Buchanan notes that may be true in collision but not in rollovers.

B次元官网网址淚 think we well be seeing a lot of school districts pressuring the province, but I donB次元官网网址檛 think the money should come from the province,B次元官网网址� she added.

Transport Canada should be the agency responsible, especially since it sat on the report for almost a decade.

B次元官网网址淣ow weB次元官网网址檝e got eight years of catching up to do and I think the federal government should pay for it,B次元官网网址� Buchanan said.

Federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau ordered a departmental review of school bus safety and seatbelts last month after the Fifth Estate series first aired.