Ontario School Board Removes Male Bus Driver Wearing Pink Skirt From Elementary School Route

A school bus sits idle in Toronto, in a file photo. The Canadian Press/Tammy Hoy

An Ontario school board says that a male bus driver who appeared in a social media video operating a bus at an elementary school while wearing a pink skirt and calling the bus the “Lolita Line” will no longer be providing bus services to the school.

In the video, taken outside of St. Michael the Archangel elementary school in Woodbridge, the driver is seen standing in the door of the bus. He is wearing a short pink skirt and white blouse, pink shoes, and a headband.

The driver is heard saying, “I do this everyday, and I don’t think there is an issue.”

He then gets on the bus and one of the bystanders asks if the driver picks up kids dressed like that. The driver responds, “Yup.”

Another bystander ask the driver why the bus is called the “Lolita Line,” but the driver’s response is not audible.

Mark Brosens, a spokesperson for the York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB), told The Epoch Times in an email that YCDSB staff “immediately” brought the issue up with the driver’s employer.

He said third-party companies provide busing services to schools in Ontario.

“The company acted quickly to address this situation with its employee and the driver will no longer provide busing to and from the school,” he said.

“The company assured the YCDSB that this will not be an issue going forward at any YCDSB schools,” he said.

He said that all bus drivers in the province were required to pass a vulnerable sector screening with local police. He also said they receive “extensive training” before transporting students.

“The YCDSB followed all of its child protection procedures after this incident,” Brosens said in the email.

In 2023, a different Ontario school board faced questions over professional attire for those working in schools after a shop teacher in Hamilton was photographed wearing tight shirts over very large breasts assumed to be prosthetic.

The teacher, Kayla Lemieux, formerly Kerry Lemieux, was employed by the Halton District School Board at Oakville Trafalgar High School when photographs of the teacher in the shop classroom surfaced online.

The school district confirmed to The Epoch Times in March 2023 that Lemieux had been removed from the classroom, but remained employed with the school board. No further details were provided.

At the time, the board discussed a professionalism policy but it was voted down in June 2023.