A Metro Transit driver has been relieved of duty after running out of his bus on Spring Garden Road to bludgeon a fake baby seal in front of stunned protestors.
Yesterday, Metro Transit general manager Pat Soanes called the incident “unacceptable” and said the man is no longer allowed to operate a bus. He will be on paid leave until his situation is resolved.
According to eyewitnesses, the driver had been joking Saturday about how bus drivers were getting a bad rap recently. Moments later, he drove by a seal hunt protest in front of the Halifax Common.
The driver then allegedly remarked: “Oh, there are the animal lovers,” and asked a rider he was chatting with, “Should I? Should I?”
Apparently, he decided he should. He stopped the bus, ran across the busy street and began clubbing a fake baby seal with a baton as baffled protestors looked on. The driver then ran back onto his bus and drove off, continuing his route.
The bloody and tear-stained seal prop was in front of a sign that said: “Hug me, don’t club me.”
“Metro Transit in no way condones this kind of behaviour,” said Soanes. “Like everyone else, we are deeply concerned. Our operators are trained professionals and we expect them to behave accordingly.”
This is the second bus driver in a week to go on paid leave pending investigation. Last Tuesday a driver allegedly tried to stop a Muslim couple from getting on his bus because the woman was wearing a headscarf.
Metro Transit is also instituting a two-day refresher course for all of its 500 drivers on things like customer relations and diversity.
Bridget Curran, organizer of the anti-sealing protest, said she wants the seal clubbing driver to be charged. But police have said that won’t happen. Soanes said she didn’t know why the driver was carrying a baton.
