City to look into bilingual bus service

If an Ottawa man gets his way, city buses could soon provide service in both official languages.

"Any new bus driver that's being hired should be able to speak both French and English," Michel Thibodeau told CTV News. "And for those that are on the job already that can't speak French, there should be French courses."

Thibodeau has filed a complaint with the city, demanding bilingual service on OC Transpo buses. Thibodeau is a regular bus rider and says the bus he takes to work only operates in English.

This is not the first time Thibodeau has tackled bilingual issues. He recently won a lengthy lawsuit against Air Canada because the airline did not serve him in French.

Thibodeau says the city of Ottawa is actually breaking its own bilingualism policy by not serving bus passengers in English and French.

"The policy says that you should be receiving the same level of service whether or not you're Francophone or Anglophone," he said.

When questioned about the issue, city bus drivers were reluctant to talk to CTV News.

"I'm not going there. No way," said one driver.

Another driver said even though he speaks French, he doesn't use it regularly on the job.

"Not unless I'm asked to because I was trained in English and I was told English is the language number one," he said.

A spokesperson for OC Transpo's union says he supports the primary use of English on bus routes.

"The working language at OC Transpo is English and until the laws or the rules change, then we'll go with the rules when they change," said Andre Cornellier.

A spokesperson at city hall told CTV News the city is undergoing a review of its policy to determine which municipal jobs should be bilingual. OC Transpo will be part of that review.

"I want to make it clear that the designation process and the policy will not result in anyone losing their jobs," said Pierre Page, a clerk for the city.

Page says although it's unlikely bilingualism will be required for all drivers, a percentage of drivers might have to speak both English and French.

A report outlining which jobs should be designated bilingual is expected to be released later this year.

With a report from CTV's Joanne Schnurr