Investigation launched after Greyhound leaves girls stranded in Valemount

A Greyhound bus driver's decision to leave two girls behind at a Valemount gas station-restaurant in the middle of the night has drawn concern from the B.C. Transportation Minister.

"The important thing first and foremost is to make sure that we have all of the facts so we understand exactly what happened," Todd Stone said during a media scrum Thursday in Victoria.

"That being said, I have to say no reasonable individual would leave two children in a potentially unsafe location on the side of the road.

"If indeed what has been alleged actually took place, obviously it's completely and totally unacceptable."

He said the province's passenger transportation branch has launched an investigation into the matter, in which, according to CBC, 12-year-old Chelsie Kazakoff and 16-year-old Jessie Kazakoff, were left stranded at the station for nearly five hours last weekend.

They were heading back to Red Deer, Alta., where their father lives, after a visit with their mother, Vanessa Aubichon, in Prince George.

Without any trouble, they had boarded a bus here on Sunday shortly after midnight but had to switch to a different bus in Valemount, 290 kilometres to the east, to complete the trip. But when they tried to do so, the driver told them their tickets had expired and his bus was full, and refused to let them on board.

The Greyhound driver told the girls that if they waited in Valemount through the night, they might be put on a morning bus that would get them back home to Alberta in 23 hours, Aubichon told CBC.

A frantic phone call from the girls to their mother followed and, in turn, she convinced a family friend to drive from Prince George to Valemount, pick them up and get them to Red Deer. The experience left Aubichon extremely upset.

"The fact they could leave them like that, with nowhere to go, knowing they have no one," Aubichon told CBC. "You don't just leave two girls behind. Who does that? Who does that?"

Stone said the Passenger Transportation Act has provisions that prevent carriers from refusing to provide service and "very specific provisions" that say people, particularly children, cannot be left in unsafe locations. Penalties can range from fines to licence suspensions.

A Greyhound representative told CBC the girls were never left alone and described the spot where they were left as a "24-hour facility with dedicated Greyhound personnel."