Highway patrollers employed by the Automobile Insurance Board to police companies that transport goods and people have begun targeting municipal transit corporations in Montreal, Quebec City, Laval, Longueuil, Gatineau and Lévis as part of a campaign to win a new contract.
The patrollers have been been stopping buses to issue tickets for being too heavy to roll on roads in Quebec during the spring thaw period.
The Montreal Transit Corporation ( STM ) says its bus drivers received 50 tickets yesterday.
Each infraction carries a fine of $262.
The Laval Transit Corporation ( STL) and the Longueuil Transit Corporation ( RTL ) report similar incidents and decry the tactic as akin to holding the public hostage.
The highway patrollers have been without a contract since 2015.