We're going down the shitter way faster than we realized

There’s a lot of parents in these parts finding out on Friday afternoon of Labour Day weekend that there won’t be a schoolbus coming around when school starts next Tuesday. Why? Because they can’t find schoolbus drivers! I’ve written on the matter before, and don’t want to go over the entire thing again, but I believe I have the solution to the schoolbus driver shortage. Let’s call it the Neumann two-step. Step one. Let’s agree that delivering a busload of students is as important as delivering a load of cement. I would argue it’s even more important. Let’s peg schoolbus driver hourly rate to cement truck driver rate forthwith. Step two. The cement truck driver has only one job; drop off a load of cement. The schoolbus driver has two jobs; delivering the students is the one she gets paid for. The other one is arguably more important; supervising the children. It’s impossible for one person to do both jobs well at the same time. Current policy is that students must at all times be under the supervision of a licenced educational professional. Until they get on the bus. Then they’ve got zero supervision. How about we make it mandatory to have a qualified bus monitor aboard, at the same hourly rate paid the professionals who watch the kids from 9 till 3:30? The fact experts can’t figure out schoolbus needs and make sure there’s a bus at your door next Tuesday bodes ill for society. We’re a country suffering a collapsing health-care system and a housing crisis at the same time, but we have leaders burnishing their virtue halos on a policy of unlimited immigration. Globe & Mail stalwart Doug Saunders even wrote an entire book about how we need to hit a population target of 100 million. Sure, but let’s figure out housing and health care and how to get the kids to school first!