Bureaucrats scrambled over Greyhound exit

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This article was published 15/11/2018 (1987 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — Bureaucrats scrambled to respond to Greyhound’s pullout this summer, raising questions as to whether Ottawa expected the private market to fill gaps in service or got lucky as it tried forming plans.

“There is not much we can do,” reads an email that appears in 35 pages of correspondence the Free Press obtained through freedom-of-information laws.

Greyhound announced July 9 it would end all passenger and cargo bus service between British Columbia and northwest Ontario (except for its Seattle-Vancouver route), effective Oct. 31.

The Free Press requested emails from Western Economic Diversification, a subsidiary of Industry Canada that analyzes local companies and helps administer grants and loans, up until Aug. 10. The emails show contradicting viewpoints on how the region would fare post-Greyhound.

In an Aug. 2 note to one of the agency’s most senior officials, staff wrote: “It is generally expected that private companies will be unlikely to fill the gaps left by Greyhound’s departure.”

But five days later, a note to an WED policy director suggested the opposite: “With many companies indicating that they can provide similar services as Greyhound, it seems that the market will self-correct and third-party providers could potentially fill the void that Greyhound leaves behind.”

The documents show Prime Minister Justin Trudeau directed Transport Minister Marc Garneau to find a solution for communities who don’t get a private-sector replacement, because provinces were “pressuring the federal government.”

They also show Grand Chief Arlen Dumas raised the issue with Trudeau’s office on behalf of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.

In early August, WED held a meeting with numerous staff on how to move forward, but noted a lack of data to analyze the impact of the pullout.

The agency appeared to be waiting on direction from Transport Canada: “Since there is no deadline/mtg [meeting scheduled], adopt a wait + see approach. Try to get some data,” scribbled one official.

Officials noted reports of 415 job losses, 64 in Manitoba. They also raised potential impacts on Manitoba’s bus-making industry and the Winnipeg airport bus depot Greyhound had installed only a decade prior, which has since been taken over by upstart Thompson Bus.

Public servants noted concerns raised by many Indigenous leaders and groups, around missing and murdered women, the ability to access medical services, and job opportunities. Officials noted reports that large parcel-delivery firms such as FedEx and Puralator seemed able to fill gaps in freight delivery.

Officials noted the former Manitoba NDP government’s attempts to subsidize Greyhound, which still ended some routes, citing slim profit margins. WED officials also examined a 2010 report by a task force of provincial transportation bureaucrats, chaired by Manitoba after Greyhound last threatened to leave the province.

“The study noted that family visits and reunification efforts will be impacted negatively, witnesses in judicial cases may have difficulty attending court proceedings, and there will be a disruption in health services,” officials summarized.

An Aug. 2 briefing also noted Ottawa only regulated trains and planes, while buses remain a federal issue. “No federal programs currently exist that would provide operational subsidies for private intercity bus carriers.”

Bureaucrats pondered using the Community Futures Program, which administer grants to stimulate rural businesses, but one official noted “it might be a stretch to expect that they would be in a position to respond,” because the funding is meant help create business plans, or deliver short-term projects.

“These desired outcomes don’t necessarily mesh with a response to the Greyhound impact,” wrote the official.

By Aug. 10, a WED senior policy director said his agency wasn’t sure how it would proceed in the 12-week countdown to Greyhound’s pullout.

“There isn’t much that we can likely do as of Nov. 1 to solve the bus service issue,” he wrote. “We do not have data on ridership, communities served by Greyhound, impacts (economic or social) of Greyhound ceasing operations, etc.”

The documents suggest there wasn’t a high-level meeting with all relevant departments and agencies until Aug. 17 — almost six weeks after Greyhound announced its pullout. The meeting involved the Privy Council Office, Transport Canada, Finance Canada and Indigenous Services.

None of the documents mention the mid-July proposal by Manitoba Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler, to have Ottawa pay Greyhound to extend service by at least 60 days, to allow other businesses to take over. Ottawa rejected that idea in late September.

On Oct. 31, Greyhound’s last day of service in Western Canada, the federal Liberals announced a two-year cost-share program for routes not yet filled by the private sector, which would have Ottawa and each province share the cost of any subsidy.

By that point, the private sector had filled all routes in Manitoba, leading Schuler to reject the idea. The NDP said it wants the province to keep that option open in case the upstarts go bankrupt.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca

Internal emails on Greyhound, from Western Economic Diversification