Farmers and seniors could be hit hard if Greyhound Lines pulls out of rural Manitoba, rural representatives say.
Greyhound Canada has announced it plans to cut all of its passenger service in rural Manitoba and northwestern Ontario Oct. 2 if it doesn’t receive millions of dollars in subsidies to keep operating money-losing routes.
However, the threatened cuts apply only to passenger services.
“Our freight network will continue by using a network of truck and van service for urban and rural service,” said company spokesperson Karen Gordon.
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Manitoba Women’s Institute president Enid Clark said the bus service provides an essential lifeline to the urban world.
“Our smaller communities are losing services. Even the larger communities that used to have doctors or had services available just don’t have them any more,” Clark said.
“If you don’t have family close by, don’t drive or don’t have a vehicle, it makes it difficult to get to many medical services.”
A leaflet the company is handing out at its new Winnipeg bus depot sums up Greyhound’s position: “We understand how important the bus is to you, and to the families, seniors and students in your community. That is why we worked so hard to convince the federal and provincial governments that saving your bus route should be important to them, too. Sadly, we failed to get the government’s attention. Now, we have no choice but to cancel your bus route for good.”
The company asks passengers to contact the federal and provincial governments to support Greyhound.
The federal government has accused the company of acting like a bully in its public threats to halt service.
The provincial government has set up a working group to deal with the situation if Greyhound follows through on its threats.
Association of Manitoba Municipalities executive director Joe Masi said there’s little time to fill the gap if one occurs.
“It’s not going to be easy because of the time line,” Masi said.
“We hate this. It’s a very serious issue.”
Greyhound is forced to operate money-losing rural lines in many provinces to get a licence to operate the money-making routes. However, the company has argued for years that its money losers outweigh its money makers, and it needs subsidies to keep operating.
The company faced bankruptcy less than a decade ago.
Some provinces, such as Saskatchewan, offer their own rural bus lines, leaving Greyhound with the interprovincial traffic. Manitoba has small bus lines, but none are considered capable of taking over Greyhound’s present role.
Masi said the worst-affected people would be those needing medical attention.
“This will really be a problem for them,” he said.
“This is how they get to their doctors.”
Clark said buses are more important than ever because most rural communities are no longer as self-sufficient in vital services as they used to be.
“It just seems to be one more thing that cuts off rural Manitoba from the rest of the province,” she said.
“It just seems that we’re losing service after service.”
