A Halifax bus driver who was fired last week for clubbing a fake seal at an anti-sealing protest committed suicide over the weekend, his wife said Monday.

Dann Little was fired by Halifax Metro Transit on Friday over the March 14 incident, Andrea Little said.

Little, who jumped out of his bus and used a stick to beat a toy seal being used as a prop by anti-seal hunt protesters as they prepared to take part at an international day of action on Spring Garden Road, thought he'd only be suspended without pay for a month, Little's wife said.

Little didn't know why he did what he did, she said, adding "and that's when I have to say my husband snapped."

The 55-year-old had been suffering silently. He had been on anti-depressants for two years and was diagnosed recently with a clogged artery in his brain — health issues he never mentioned to Metro Transit, his wife said.

"He was afraid he would lose his job, because he wasn't feeling well," said Little's wife, adding he regretted his behaviour and had apologized to Metro Transit and his colleagues.

Metro Transit should be more supportive so that others won't have to go through this, she said.

"I want them to have an open-door policy, with somebody they go to and trust and know they're not going to lose their job because they're suffering," she said.

Little's brother-in-law Paul Watson said he holds the employer responsible for Little's death and that the family is deeply unhappy with how he was treated.

Dan MacDonald, president of Local 508 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, said workers are extremely upset about Little's death.

"Two people were sent home because they just couldn't continue on," MacDonald said. "This winter has been a brutal winter for all of our members and the stress level is basically right through the roof right now. It's going to take a while for that to come down."

Metro Transit's general manager Patricia Soanes said in a statement Monday that she and her colleagues were saddened to learn of Little's death and that Metro Transit won't be commenting any further out of respect for the family's privacy.

Grief counsellors have been made available to employees and Little's family, Soanes said.