Bus driver didn’t come to management over Pride bus, says Calgary city manager

CALGARY – A Calgary bus driver says he’s being unfairly treated because of his stance on the rainbow-wrapped bus.

Last week, Calgary Transit showed off the bus in support of the annual Calgary Pride Festival.

Jesse Rau said then that his religious beliefs prevent him from driving the Pride bus and he was worried he would lose his job or face disciplinary action if he was assigned to drive the bus.

Rau says a couple days after he appeared on CTV Calgary about his stance, he was called in by his supervisor in response to a complaint that he was texting and driving, something he denies ever occurred.

He says he feels like he’s being harassed because of his stance over the Pride bus.

Since Rau has been driving for the service for less than a year, he is still on probation.

“My suspicion would be that someone that is part of Calgary Transit, in power, that is upset about raining on his parade would like to sabotage me,” Rau said. “That’s my concern.”

City manager Jeff Fielding said he couldn’t speak about specific personal matters, but added he’s not had any formal complaints about Rau. Fielding also said Rau has not come to management to talk about not wanting to drive the Pride bus and why.

“Anybody, at any point in time, can write me an email or make an appointment to see me. If these were issues of concern to them personally in terms of their own beliefs and practices, I would have dealt with it appropriately.”

The Pride bus will drive different routes in the system throughout the festival, up until the Pride Parade, which takes place on Monday.

(CTV Calgary, CFFR)