Chilliwack City Council urges B.C. govt. to take action on bus strike

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However, as reported by Fraser Valley Today on Saturday, April 15, MLA Dan Coulter, Minister of State for Infrastructure and Transit, says Minister Bains has reached out to both parties and offered mediation services, but it is his understanding that neither of them has requested assistance from a mediator at this point.

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Councillor Jeff Shields said at Tuesday’s meeting that sending this letter to Minister Bains is long overdue.

“I think it’s a grand idea,” said Shields. “We’re one month into this. There’s a total impasse. We’ve seen what happened in the Sea to Sky corridor where it lasted six months and there didn’t seem to be a lot that really happened. I think there needs to be a push. Municipalities that are truly affected need to push our provincial government to move forward with this. Thank you to staff for putting this forward.”

Mayor Ken Popove said the city of Chilliwack is limited in what it can do to elevate the matter.

“It’s unfortunate post-pandemic with the ridership on the rise,” Popove said. “Maybe they took that opportunity, but we can’t really speak into it because it’s not something that we can do, but we can do this [letter writing].”

Councillor Nicole Read stressed the need for all parties to act quickly.

“I just hope that the province and the mediator and those involved will be able to resolve this quickly so that people can continue to get back to work and school and use the service they need,” said Read, who was elected in October 2022 to council.

Mayor Popove said the letter writing recommendation originated with the Fraser Valley Regional District and the cities of Abbotsford and Mission.

“We’ll see what we can do that on front,” Popove said.

Councillor Chris Kloot chimed in, “I think the assistance of a mediator is definitely the right move. I’m hopeful it becomes resolved fairly quickly. I’m thankful for staff for bringing this forward.”