Canadian Personal Finance Blog

I know I have ranted about this one before, but, tough, I feel like ripping the scab off this one and bitching again.

So to send three of my four kids to school costs me $174.00 a month (approx.), due to their need to take the bus to school. The Ottawa School Board, does not offer school bus service to my kids for various reasons (mostly funding, is the claim), so I am out of pocket that chunk of money every month. Now luckily there is the Tax Credit For Public Transit that was introduced by the Tories this year, so that helps a little (giving me 15.25% of my purchase back). This is another argument to not have a car, but luckily Ottawa’s transit system doesn’t like making it easy for me to get to work using a bus (but we’ll save that for another rant, now won’t we?).

So I have spoken to the Trustee candidates in today’s Ottawa municipal elections, and got a hearty, “Sorry, that’s the way it is…” response, which I guess I empathize with, but really think stinks as well. Yes, I can afford to pay for these bus passes, but what if I couldn’t? What happens then? My kids can’t go to the school their programs are at? The answer then is, “Tough beans, lump it!”? I hope not.

Yes, I know, just me bitching again, but think about this as yet another “Class barrier” being created in our “Public” Education system. I don’t think I like it.