Bed Bugs On A Bus

11/13/2023

What’s one of the worst things you can hear from your mate in a relationship?

“You know dear, it’s all about you.” Ouch. Next, lawyers.

The residents of Ottawa have a relationship with the municipal government. So public servants and pols, here it is from the residents of Ottawa. In the interests of brevity, we point out the provincial light-rail inquiry. It’s all about you.

Or Lansdowne. The public wasn’t demanding huge changes at the mistake on Bank Street. But Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group was … to the tune of $419 million. We taxpayers can pay that but is it really about us? No, it’s mostly about you … and your friends.

And then there’s Mayor Mark Sutcliffe saying he hasn’t ruled out support for the Ottawa Senators in their quest for a new arena. Is that about us? Well not really. That’s about spending money for a private group of deep-pocketed owners who already own a perfectly good arena out in Kanata. Maybe the Senators owners should pay for their own skating rink … like the previous owners of the Senators did? It’s not about us. It’s about them.

Which brings us … oddly … to beg bugs. Your agent has fortunately missed the faint joy of bed bugs but others say they are much less than fun, physically and psychologically. Yuk, bed bugs. Rather like fleas on dogs if dogs could talk and then we’d know for sure.

But some OC Transpo buses had bed bugs. Now the challenged bus company didn’t tell taxpayers about bugs on their buses but the hound dogs at the CBC uncovered them. That was a mistake the airline made in that modern movie classic Snakes On A Plane and look how that turned out (there’s a rental next weekend for Transpo GM Renee Amilcar). Transpo not only didn’t tell the public about the highly mobile insect passengers (or “clients” as the bus people are want to call them), they wouldn’t tell the government-funded gumshoes at the Corp. which buses these “customers” were on (and did they pay their fare?). Did Transpo inform the oversight body SPCBB (Society To Prevent Cruelty To Bed Bugs) or another oversight body SPCT (Society To Prevent Cruelty To Taxpayers. There’s something else Transpo didn’t tell us)?

Transit Update … Poof … It’s Gone

You know OC Transpo and the City of Ottawa … it’s not all about you. There’s the small matter of public health and the public (and the Corp) has a right to know. It’s not about you municipal government good pols and staffers. It’s about us.

But not in the world of the dysfunction OC Transpo and ever-more dysfunctional civic government.

Transpo and company are probably concerned that people won’t take those buses because they’re frightened of bed bugs. Rightly so.

Yet, what’s more important? Transpo’s lousy ridership numbers or having Ottawans become lousy with insects?

Why OC Transpo of course. It’s all about them.

Perhaps the good people at Ottawa Public Health should pay a visit to the muzzled folks of Transpo. Maybe tell them our welfare is more important than theirs. Tell the municipal government that the relationship between the people of Ottawa and city hall is dysfunctional. We pay all the money and they spend it on this and that but often, not on us. That’s not right.

Not that we don’t care for you dears, but it appears it’s not about us but about you … as usual.

Ken Gray

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