BC Transit has offered an apology to a Victoria, B.C., mother after a bus driver asked her to cover up while breastfeeding on the bus last month.
Olena Russell said the July 14th incident started immediately after she boarded the bus while nursing.
"The bus driver stopped my husband and insisted that I should be covered up," she said. Russell says her husband objected, but the driver argued the matter was at his own discretion.
"Both of us knew it was not," she said. "We were a little bit uncomfortable on the bus at that point and voluntarily got off."
The couple then filed complaints with BC Transit and the BC Human Rights Tribunal.
Russell says she doesn't want to see the driver reprimanded, but wants to assure the situation is not repeated.
Spokeswoman Joanna Linsangan said BC Transit has sent a notice to all of its drivers. "We feel that transit is for everyone," she said. "A mother has the right to breastfeed her child in a public area, and yes, that means transit buses as well."
The couple was also given a formal written apology and a month of free bus fare.
