Lion school bus woes should make Quebec revisit electrification plan, critics say

MONTREAL - The abrupt withdrawal of 1,200 Lion electric school buses from the roads in Quebec is prompting renewed criticism of the provincial government's approach to electrification — and of its decision to give one local company a virtual monopoly.

Many school bus routes in Quebec remained cancelled Monday following the government's decision to pull all Lion buses out of service after a bus in Montreal caught fire last week.

Lion has sent instructions to school bus operators for the required inspections and repairs, apparently related to possible wiring issues. Three Lion buses have caught fire in the last year, though nobody has been injured and the buses' batteries were not involved.

Valérie Tremblay, co-coordinator of the Canadian Electric School Bus Alliance, said the fires will