The province took issue with our editorial regarding Rocky View Schools (RVS) bus fees last week, a fact that did not surprise us.
It also took issue with the fact the news article centred more on the fact Rocky View Schools had proposed to increase bus fees instead of on the fact Alberta Education Minister David Eggen would be meeting with boards to ensure parents were not going to pay more as a result of Bill 1.
Governments and newspapers have a long history of bashing heads stemming from the way each deals with information. Governments sometimes try to control the message in such a way that it will cast them in a favourable light. Newspapers work to not only report the facts but challenge the issue beyond just the surface of the press release.
The facts in this case as RVS has outlined are simple: there has been a systematic shortfall in funding in its transportation budget for years, it is faced with increased expenses due to the carbon tax and massive student growth.
Bill 1 did not cause those problems, but it did eliminate transportation fees for one segment of users, which means when RVS increased its fees – something it would have done regardless of the new legislation – there were fewer people to spread the cost around to, hence the size of the proposed fee hike. It also created a system where some parents pay and some do not, which is destined to cause controversy.
The questions we asked last week have, in part, been answered. Since the story ran, Eggen has clarified there is a possibility that he will top up funding to divisions such as Rocky View Schools if there has been significant growth since the 2015/16 school year – the enrolment period on which Bill 1’s funding is based.
That being said, we are in the business of facts not of maybes.
When the province has its meeting with RVS we will see what happens to the fees and how RVS’s current budget proposal will change. That reporting will be sure to also focus on the how and the impacts. That is especially important considering the million-dollar deficit in RVS’s transportation budget. Whatever happens, the money has to come from somewhere.
Our job is to ensure accountability in government, especially with taxpayers’ money.
It is not to write government-friendly articles. Until the fees are reduced or eliminated, the province receives no credit from us for mere intentions. We respond to action, as we expect voters do, too.
We are sure the government understands that at times we will take a hardline on some issues. The key is to understand that in serving the public both of us must endeavour to be fair in our dealings.
