I feel like I have lost another friend.

With the dismantling of STC, I feel like I have lost another friend. My husband who also played the role of chauffeur died a few years ago and I began to rely on STC to travel to appointments as well as visiting my kids and grand-kids in the city. I always felt confident about reaching my destination regardless of the weather or my stress level. The drivers I encountered were always pleasant, courteous and so helpful when my arthritic knees were acting up and I had difficulty descending the steps.

I believe losing our bus service has had an impact on our community which was a transfer point for many passengers and parcels. There were three buses twice a day and quite often at least one bus had a trailer in tow. Each time I had the pleasure of riding the bus to Regina, there was a box destined for the lab as well as numerous parcels. I have personally shipped and received items using STC because it was reliable.

I boarded the bus during the school break in February and it was full. The lady I was sharing a seat with had her things on the floor so I asked the man across the aisle if I could put my bag under his feet. He kindly obliged and I settled down for a pleasant relaxing trip.

Losing STC has taken away some of my independence and I’m feeling handicapped. I have anxiety attacks just thinking about driving in the city but the thought of staying at home is depressing too. After talking to some of my friends about this, I have come to realize that there are others facing the same hardships.

My tax dollars have been subsidizing things for years, including STC and I have not complained. It hasn’t bothered me that my tax money has been used for roads I will not travel, jails I don’t plan to spend time in, medical procedures that don’t affect me, a football stadium that I will never see the inside of, etc. etc. I see it as part and parcel of Saskatchewan’s community spirit. I have a hard time understanding why anyone would resent subsidizing STC which is so important to keep the people of Saskatchewan connected.

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Submitted by Kay – June 16, 2017

“We need STC”

“Thank you for this. Some of us who live in cities know what profound effects this closure will have. We’re protesting, writing letters, attending hearings, talking to our neighbours and friends- trying to get a groundswell of information and indignation building. This is a huge loss. But the few who are running things just don’t care. From my perspective as someone who chooses the bus for convenience, safety, and environmental friendliness, I am angry about it’s removal. As a worker in a small CBO, I am concerned that my clients cannot attend funerals, travel to treatment centres or shelters, or visit family. As a taxpayer I am horrified that this government chooses to give my money to corporate tax breaks and out of country companies to do things we do not need. We need the STC.”

Nancy Kelly – June 14, 2017

This comment shared with permission from Save STC- Support Sask Owned Bus Co.

 

Summer without STC hurts citizens.

“This closure must be playing havoc with holiday plans for those of us without private vehicles. It would be hard to send the kids off to visit the relatives for a few weeks. SaskTourism must be having a hard time convincing visitors that we are a welcoming province to people of all means.”

“Wanting to get my great-nephew from Calgary for a week of summer holidays, but now with the STC route between there and Saskatoon shut down that looks nigh on impossible without paying a big airfare. He will be especially disappointed if we can’t arrange something.”

“School sports team, community sports like soccer, softball, baseball, football, lacrosse and how many others? The amount of revenue losses because of this will not be recorded but it will be felt in communities far and wide.”

“Social Services tells me there is a relocation allowance available but since I can’t afford to operate my van and no STC how am I going to move if I were to choose that option?”

“I am so angry about no more STC. Annual summer migration of relatives depend on the bus to get from the city. Now how? Our democracy has been compromised. All the Sask Party’s social cuts are heartless and mean spirited. We are now without an essential service thanks to Mr. Wall.”

“My aunt was thinking of coming out from BC, but her son is in Lloyd, her sister is near PA, and her sister-in-law is in Regina. She’s not sure if she’ll come out now without STC, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to drive her to see everyone.”

“I’ve got to figure out how to get the child from Lloyd in a few weeks. Extra hours and money required, where there is a shortage of both.”

“I inquired with SaskTourism and received the following responses: “Thank you for your inquiry. Unfortunately since STC bus line has closed the only way to find transportation from one community to another is by renting a vehicle or looking at the Rideshare website.” and “Yes it makes getting around the province more of a challenge!””

“…the most damage this closure is inflicting is up on families. Remote families, extended families, poor and middle class families, families wanting to host reunions, families taking care of their families. And extended families and communities supporting each others. Many can no longer visit their loved ones. Too sad for words.”

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A tiny selection of many comments circulating on social media, and around kitchen tables as Saskatchewan citizens try to navigate summer plans to visit those they love without THEIR public transportation system.  

 

STC is a lifeline. Literally.

As someone from rural Saskatchewan and now someone with no driver’s licence due to a life threatening medical condition that was spontaneous and out of my control and on the mend, I’d like to be able to visit friends in Regina while I’m in Saskatoon receiving medical care but soon I won’t be able to do so affordably thanks to this short sighted cut of an essential service for a province with the most roads and furthest distances to travel between major centres let alone from remote communities.

The elderly, the poor, the money wise, those with no driver’s licence, those with medical problems, those with no car, the unemployed, rural and city residents alike, immigrants, and aboriginal people rely on this service. The demand is sporadic at times and hence why it’s an essential service to ensure the service is always available on a regular schedule like bus routes in cities. It’s not too different from other public services or utilities we all rely on but take for granted. How about they privatize healthcare or SaskPower or SaskEnergy and you lose your job due to your employer making cuts or you get ill or injured then you can’t afford to pay for inflated user pay private healthcare with no employer supplied health insurance because you are now unemployed and you can’t afford to keep the lights on let alone keep your food refrigerated and can’t heat your home because private companies jack up the utility rates beyond your means.

Public services and crown corporations are owned by the citizens of a province or country and subsidize their services to ensure affordability and availability for everybody regardless of means and lot in life. This levels the playing field in a world where the gap between the haves and have nots, rich and poor, continues to grow exponentially.

We should be encouraging public transportation not winding it down and privatizing it to for-profit companies that will provide service only if it turns a big profit. Balancing the budget is a responsible thing to do but looking long term instead of selling off assets and services for a short term gain to pay for some of the overspending that was done, for better or for worse, and not saving for a rainy day or drought, is not wise fiscal management. Crown corporations provide skilled and decent paying jobs for citizens and residents of a province or country and the profits return to the local economy instead of leaving the province to pad the pockets of CEOs and shareholders. Make STC more efficient and marketable and less reliant on subsidies. Don’t shut it down.

What do I know? I’m just a guy that used to drive his Cadillac CTS everywhere he went but can’t anymore due to having a massive stroke, while on leave from the military working on a Master of Arts thesis in Sociology at the UofR trying to complete and publish a thesis that may contribute to the betterment of society in an indirect or direct way. The stroke was probably due to chronic sleep deprivation and shift work and extreme workplace stress while serving my country in HMC Ships for many years in the Royal Canadian Navy. I’m proud of my service to my country and I’d do it all over again and hope to be able to continue to serve. However, due to medical reasons I currently can’t drive and I need an affordable and reliable public transportation service like STC.

Plus public transit is also the environmentally wise way to travel and reduces pollution and lowers our carbon footprint. Maybe institute a carbon tax before the Feds force their own plan on Sask and invest all of the money back into greener and more efficient and effective public transit systems and also keep STC running. I’m sure a modest carbon tax could fund and expand public transit in Saskatchewan and keep STC running if it only needs a forecasted $85,000,000 over the next 5 years. That’s only $17,000,000/year and only $14.72/person/year for each of Saskatchewan’s 1,155,000 residents.

Bring back passenger rail across our province and bring back electric street cars we used to have in Saskatoon, Regina, and Moose Jaw. Oh wait, that kind of public transit infrastructure investments is not affordable especially given our current fiscal situation and low commodity prices. It’s worth the long term investment in Saskatchewan citizens to truly keep the province connected and to help keep Saskatchewan Strong I’d support saving STC.

Maybe it’s time to vote NDP again but in the meantime I support resisting policies that hurt others. Don’t get me started on the proposed healthcare cuts and the proposed pay cuts to some of the hardest working and the most under paid staff in our hospitals and long term care facilities. I’m talking about the essential and extremely hardworking and very caring face of healthcare who have the most contact with patients, our Continuing Care Aides formerly called Special Care Aides (CCAs/SCAs). CCAs are the first level of qualification on a three tiered nursing team made up of CCAs, LPNs, and RNs) that literally do most of the heavy lifting and shitty jobs (making beds, feeding, listening to, encouraging, turning, lifting, transferring, placing people on bed pans or commodes or toilets, cleaning up after and bathing patients). I never really knew what my mom did for a living to support our family other than she wore scrubs and worked long 12 hour shifts and commuted 45 minutes each way from our small town to the city to work. I now know how vital her and her CCA colleagues are to our healthcare system. They kept me alive, comforted me and did everything for me with smiles on their faces at times when I couldn’t move my left side for months and I could hardly do anything for myself. I was bed ridden for 2.5 months and spent a total of 5 months in hospital. I’d say if anybody deserves a raise it’s CCAs. LPNs and RNs are very important too but it’s the CCAs in my opinion that do most of the dirty work and have the most patient contact. They do the nursing you see in the movies and are the unsung heroes of our healthcare system.

Premier Brad Wall, please reconsider and stop the cuts to healthcare and keep STC for the benefit of all Saskatchewanians. Take it from me, a sailor who spent the last 8 months recovering from a stroke that was no fault of my own as I was an otherwise healthy 35 year old who was running laps and working out at the UofR gym a few hours before my stroke. I always took the stairs in the university and tried to eat healthy and rarely drank and never smoked. You never know when your life will take a turn for the worse. It doesn’t matter how much money you have when you fall deathly ill. Sickness and death are great equalizers.

Both STC and universal public healthcare are lifelines to so many in our province. Did I mention I used to be a professional truck driver in my civilian life and grew up on a dairy farm? I have a lot of respect for you and the job you have done so far and I know as a senior NCO in the RCN and councillor on my condo board that exercising leadership is not easy. I respect your desire not to have our children and grand children pay for our debts. The previous NDP and current Sask Party governments paid down our provincial debt greatly. The NDP balanced the budgets after disastrous PC overspending by making tough choices that included shutting down one of three Regina hospitals (Plains Hospital now is a Sask PolyTechnic Campus), closing some rural hospitals and finding savings and having a higher PST, income and corporate taxes. The Sask Party paid down half the provincial debt in their first year in office thanks to wise thinking to take advantage of record high potash and oil prices that both had a high demand still.

I think the government should give STC a chance to improve their business model and rely less on subsidies over time while being mandated to provide an essential service within a reasonable government budget with incentives to become profitable while serving those in need. Routes that don’t have any regular demand could be arranged on an appointment basis. Use modern information technology to optimize services and routes and schedules and calls for service. Canada Post used to lose money all of the time but when faced with federal Conservative government budget cuts and pressure they adapted, diversified, innovated and became profitable. That’s leadership.

The NDP spent $19 million in 2005 to design and build a new state of the art STC HQ and bus depot in the heart of Regina. It’s really a gem in the crown of the Queen City. It didn’t open until after the Sask Party was in power.

Innovate. Diversify. Invest in a long term sustainable future. Think and consult before you act. Adapt and overcome.

Posted on Save STC – Support Sask Owned Bus Company  Facebook page on May 20, 2017 by Brian Willms and shared here with permission.

Accessing health care without STC

“To be honest I’m not even sure what happens now. We have patients from reserves and other small rural centres who used STC to come to their treatments. My patients have treatments 3 or 4 times a week lasting 4 hours. I know that some patients who may have had some opportunities to have dialysis treatments in centres closer to home may now have to come to Saskatoon because of transportation. Some people actually have to now go to a different dialysis satellite, because they can no longer get to their treatments in Saskatoon. Patients typically need to be on a wait list before moving to a satellite (PA, N Battleford, Lloyd) but this lack of transportation might mean that some need to jump the queue?

And chemo is definitely another thing, anyone who can’t have medical taxi covered and needs to travel may need a family member to stop working/travel with them/they may need to move?

It’s outrageous. STC isn’t supposed to be making big profit. It’s supposed to be serving our people.

People on assistance can get some things covered. People on reserves can get some things covered.

The people that really suffer on dialysis are people who are not in those categories, live out of town, have to travel and pay for their own meds. Some patients drive 3 or 4 hours one way, and often they are not well enough to do it alone. Sometimes people actually have to sell their home and move to be able to make it work. Some people do the travelling, some for years. It really is a tragedy.

I do believe that some way or another people need to be able to access their dialysis. Staff who know more than me have mentioned that they may need to take private taxis or even ambulances.. (LOL $$$$)

Not to say that people on reserves and assistance have it good. It really is a struggle for everyone. But those people generally do have a bit of support. It is definitely impacting their quality of life and their family and schedules and everything else though. Makes it very hard to work.

We need more for everyone, not less for anyone. Travel should be available for people who need it. Sorry, so upsetting.”

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This is Saskatchewan, Canada in 2017, the birthplace of medicare. On top of dealing with life threatening illness, our fellow citizens now worry about travel to reach their life saving treatment, causing further stress and upheaval. Where is the federal minister of health? She has obligations here.  Contact the Federal Minister of Health Jane Philpott and ask her if she’s aware of this situation and what she’s doing about it.  Here’s her contact information:  https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/corporate/honourable-jane-philpott.html

 

What is the value of STC? Please investigate! Letter to the Premier

Dear Premier Wall

The more I understand about the many important roles STC bus service plays in Saskatchewan, the more concerned I am about your decision to shut it down and rely on private providers and courier services to cover its routes.

Many have pointed out how businesses in small communities will be harmed by losing access to reliable regular low-cost freight service, how small communities will lose the benefit the bus depot provides as a hub for passenger and freight drop-off and pick-up and supports ancillary business, that the cost of moving items such as medical supplies, lab samples, library materials, parts, documents etc. among Saskatchewan towns and cities will increase — and these costs will put greater pressure on the public purse and businesses that may be struggling to stay afloat. Shutting STC will lead to increased costs for our medical system, including higher rates of ill health when people can’t get timely care, stress of dealing with isolation and/or high travel expenses, increased injuries and deaths from car accidents when people who shouldn’t be driving get back behind the wheel. Another one is lost work time for people who will have to replace STC service their family members have relied upon. Working people (usually women) will end up replacing STC service with not only their unpaid labour, but their earned vacation time to drive family members from rural communities to medical centres for needed care. Compassionate employers may lose valuable productivity by going short-staffed to accommodate workers who need to transport family members. If a person does not have flexibility in their work hours their family member may have to miss their appointments or they might have to pay a high cost to a taxi service to get necessary care.

There are many, many examples of the costs of not having STC in place which have not been properly accounted for. I am certain that these costs are much higher than the claimed subsidy you have been using to justify privatizing this crown corporation. We also know that in cases where provinces have privatized rural transit they have ended up paying millions in subsidies to private providers anyway. Public services such as STC buses, schools, hospitals, and roads do cost money and we are willing to pay for them through our tax dollars because we recognize their value. I am happy to pay my $20/year share to cover STC’s costs because I know that I gain far more than $20 of benefit from its existence, regardless of whether or how often I might ride the bus myself.

In this day and age the government should be actively promoting inter-city and rural public transit as a way to reduce our GHG emissions. STC is capable of, and was already planning to reduce its ecological footprint as well as its economic costs, by using smaller vehicles where it made sense to do so. If the per-rider subsidy is too high, reduce it by promoting the higher usage of buses and making schedules more convenient. In advanced countries I’ve visited, such as Denmark, Spain and Costa Rica, a person can easily get around the country — including rural and remote areas — using an integrated system of public transit. In Europe, with higher population density they use trains more, but buses are also part of their systems. Their bus stops and terminals are pleasant, clean, convenient, safe and attractive. These examples show it is possible to do inter-city and rural public transit in a very modern way that makes a more vibrant culture and economy thrive.

STC is an asset that belongs to Saskatchewan that can and should continue to develop as part of an advanced society. Instead, it appears your government has taken a short-sighted, mean and grasping attitude, viewing the profitable routes as something to be exploited by your friends for their private gain and viewing the people who live in remote areas that are unprofitable to serve as expendable. Shutting down STC is false economy – expensive, disruptive, inefficient, adding new costs, reducing productivity, making life more difficult and more dangerous.

Do the right thing and reverse your decision. Keep STC public and keep it on the road.

Sincerely,

Cathy Holtslander

1516 Cairns Ave., Saskatoon SK S7H 2H6

Posted on May 18, 2017 to Save STC – Support Sask Owned Bus Co. Facebook page.

STC connects boy to urgent medical care.

When my son was one years old we needed to use STC to get from La Ronge to Edmonton for his surgeries and appointments, without the bus we would not have been able to get there, we were young, we didn’t have a vehicle, so we had no other way to get there, save the STC, families like mine need it, Brad Wall isn’t going to drive us to our appointments, it’s going to cost the Saskatchewan government and Saskatchewan families more in the end, my son would not have had use of his arm if he couldn’t get to his appointments.

Posted by Martin on April 25, 2017 to the Save STC – Support Sask Owned Bus Co. Facebook page.

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Editor’s Note:  There have been no announcements from the Saskatchewan Government regarding the provision of safe and cost effective transportation to ensure citizens will be able to access medical care without the STC service.  The federal minister of health is ultimately responsible to Canadians who require health care, and she has remained silent to date. There is a lot of anxiety across the province among people who use STC to access life saving medical services.

 

STC’s reliable freight delivery

I had to ship several boxes for work today from Regina to North Battleford. Today was the last day for shipping boxes with STC. Without this service, I don’t know how we are going to ship in rural Saskatchewan, or even the the smaller cities. Many companies refuse to ship to PO boxes. With STC, we could ship to any town pretty much overnight and know someone could get it any time. With the big shipping companies, sometimes they send packages back to the shipping centres in major urban centres if not one comes to the door on the first try. This is going to create so many issues for small business, or non-profits like where I work. STC was a cheap, reliable network for people and packages. I don’t know what we are going to do without it.

Posted on May 19, 2017 by Tria Donaldson to the Save STC – Support Sask Owned Bus Co. Facebook page.

Saving S (Saskatchewan’s) T (Trusted) C (Company)

Saving S(Saskatchewan’s) T(Trusted) C(Company).

The Sask Party has lost their focus when it comes to meeting the needs of the Saskatchewan people. All I hear is talk of saving money with the wind down (privatization) of OUR bus company.

It has been said many times over and over that STC is an ESSENTIAL SERVICE, which seems to be falling on ears that refuse to listen. Here are some examples of ESSENTIAL SERVICE from my 5 year career. Other drivers have 30 years service and could share so much more on how OUR BUS COMPANY is so vital to this province.

1). I was learning the routes we have by riding with the drivers and taking tons of notes so I knew where to go when I was on my own. I usually sat up front across from the driver so I could see the road and also listen for pearls of wisdom that each driver would share to help me meet the high standards that STC required.

One morning we stopped at a town to pick up people and freight and I was asked by the driver to move directly behind him for the rest of the trip. He brought in a small box and had it sit on the seat directly across from him. He explained to me that this was someone’s ashes and they were being brought back to family for the funeral. You always treat the family and the loved one with respect by having their loved one sit on the bus with you. You do not put this person under the bus with the rest of the freight. Think of how the family would feel to see their loved one brought up from under the bus with the rest of the freight.

Some people would try and move the box and sit on the front seat, but the driver would kindly explain that it was reserved for the person currently sitting there. When we arrived at the depot and all the passengers were off the bus, this driver took the loved ones ashes to the family who were waiting for them and said he was very sorry for their loss. I remembered this fine example and continued the practice for the rest of my career.

2.) A driver was coming in from out west in our province for the Saskatoon depot during an evening run. His headlights picked up the taillights of a car sitting at the side of the road with a lady holding a baby in her arms. The driver stopped to make sure everything was fine and found out the car had a flat tire and nobody had stopped to assist the lady. The driver took time out of his schedule to change the flat tire and make sure the lady and baby were safely on the road.

3). A driver was coming in from Carnduff to Regina on the morning run in a snowstorm and very cold weather. Many vehicles were pulled over at the side of the road with people in them as visibility was poor and people did not want to go further. This driver was not going to leave people sitting in a vehicle as it was not safe. He explained to the people on his bus that he was going to stop and pick up people who needed assistance and it might get a little cozy in here.

People were very thankful that morning for this driver to stop and pick them up and get them safely in to Regina.

4). I was training with a driver on an evening run and we were arriving at our last town in the dark. We had a couple of elderly people on the bus and the driver did not want them walking home in the dark alone. He asked them to give him directions to their homes and brought them safely home. He assisted them to the front door while I followed behind with the luggage. They were so appreciative of us two drivers and the service we provided. The STC bus was their lifeline for medical appointments and so much more.

5). I was coming in to Regina from Estevan and I saw a man hitchhiking on the side of the road. He waved me down and I pulled over to see if I could help. He was on his way to Weyburn to see the doctor and couldn’t get their as his vehicle had quit on him that morning. I picked him up and got him safely to Weyburn for his appointment.

PLEASE KEEP STC!

Posted on May 19, 2017 by Larry McCrea on Save STC – Support Sask Owned Bus Co, Facebook page.