Voyageur Colonial Bus Lines

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Voyageur Colonial Bus Lines (Voyageur) is an intercity bus company founded in 1928 that served Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec, primarily the cities of Montreal, Ottawa and Kingston.

When CSL Equity Investments Inc. sold (most of?) Voyageur's bus routes to Greyhound in 1996, the bus driver's pension fund was short by $2.4 million, and up to 146 long-term employees lost 30 percent of their pensions. Paul Martin's family owned a 50-per-cent stake in Voyageur through the holding company. There are accusations that Mr. Martin, then the Minister of Finance and subsequently the Canadian Prime Minister, interfered with the results of a Department of Finance audit requested by company employees. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), after meeting with the trustees of CSL, declined to take any action after performing the audit.

Martin continues to own Voyageur Colonial and the company still runs three bus lines under its own name (VCL). They are Montreal/Ottawa EXPRESS, Montreal/Ottawa (via Dorion/Hawkesbury) south of the Ottawa River and Montreal/Ottawa (via Lachute/Hawkesbury) north of the Ottawa River. It also retains ownership of the bus terminals in Ottawa and Montreal.