Tag Archives: GRT

It seems that whenever we pick up the paper or look on-line, a bus driver is shown texting or committing some other sin. These problems come to us from Toronto. Today I would like to tell you a different story.

Last week I attended the first awards for outstanding Regional employees. One of our bus drivers won for outstanding service. People phone in to the GRT hotline, not to complain but to complement her work. One customer phoned in because during one bus ride, this rider saw the bus driver give directions to two lost university students, fix a skate blade cut on a passenger who had just finished at the Waterloo Square skating rink and urge passengers to leave by the front of the bus when the back door was blocked by snow.

Another employee, one of our chemists, helped translate for a Russian woman unable to make herself understood to social services staff. Not only did he translate for her that day, but he and his wife stayed in contact with the woman and helped her adjust to Canada.

Finally, there were the two paramedics who got a standing ovation from their fellow employees. They entered a dwelling and found a dead woman. One of the paramedics noticed a car seat and a stroller. They searched the apartment and came across a cold, naked three-year old hiding in the back bedroom. He had been on his own for days with his dead mother and the heat and electricity turned off.

They clothed him and fed him and comforted him with one of the EMS stuffed bears. They waited with the boy while his grandmother was contacted. The boy said to them, “Can I live with you? My Mommy’s dead.”  Despite this intense situation, the two paramedics finished up with the boy then returned to finish their shift.

Congratulations to all the Regional staff nominated and winners!