Councillor booted from tense OSTA meeting on Ottawa’s bus driver shortage

The topic was about Ottawa’s worsening school bus driver shortage, and the forum was an Ottawa Student Transportation Authority (OSTA) presentation, which resulted in one city councillor being removed in a video now circulating online.

“Councillor Kelly is out of this meeting,” OSTA general manager Vicky Kyriaco said in the video from Wednesday Sept. 13. “I hope you’re out of a job soon,” West Carleton-March City Councillor Clarke Kelly responded.

I received this video last night. It’s an interaction between @OttSchoolBus and Councillor @_ClarkeKelly during OSTA’S update regarding cancelled school busses.

I am concerned that an elected official was removed from this meeting.

I’ve forwarded this video to @Sflecce. pic.twitter.com/QR39Kl7AJ8

— Goldie Ghamari, MPP | گلسا قمری (@gghamari) September 14, 2023

Following that exchange, Kelly was removed from the meeting after telling Kyriaco that school bus service is not a privilege, as he claims she told him it was. Kyriaco said that was false. Both parties can be heard speaking over one another in the video posted to social media.

Kelly said he was pushing the matter since rural students in his ward remain without buses and no alternative ways of transportation.

In an email to CityNews Ottawa, OSTA said Kelly “interrupted the presentation several times, at which point he was told this was a presentation and not an open forum.” Then, during a question period OSTA said Kelly “became verbally aggressive and disrespectful.” OSTA added the rest of the meeting continued peacefully.

Also by email, Kelly said “It is my opinion and that of many of my council colleagues that my questions were reasonable and her reaction to them was hostile and unnecessarily defensive.” Kelly added that he was asking questions on behalf of his residents.

1/2 I’ve spent the day fielding calls and questions about this exchange. I do not wish to further elevate emotions on this matter. What I am pursuing, on behalf of the residents in my Ward, is appropriate service for the families of West Carleton-March & other rural communities. https://t.co/Lve8UiM0yw

— Clarke Kelly (@_ClarkeKelly) September 14, 2023

Rideau-Jock Councillor David Brown was at the OSTA meeting and said that the news OSTA was sharing during the meeting were most negatively. In a video of the presentation posted to OSTA’s website, a $6.5 million funding gap is highlighted along with an increase in the cost of fuel. However, the transportation authority also shared its strategies towards potential solutions.

“Given the level of interest, and certainly given who the audience was in this meeting, an open forum would have been better and we did end up getting that at the end of the meeting,” Coun. Brown told The Sam Laprade Show on Thursday Sept. 14.

“That speaks to the level of frustration that I think everyone’s feeling,” Councillor Tim Tierney told The Sam Laprade Show on Thursday Sept. 14. “These rural roads where you have students walking on the roadways; it’s extremely dangerous. There was a lot of great points raised.”

Tierney added that the tense exchange accomplished little for students.