Michael Harris says Uber, Lyft and other ridesharing services need rules
Kitchener Conestoga MPP calls for provincial regulation as cities grapple with legal headaches
Michael Harris, the Progressive Conservative MPP for Kitchener-Conestoga says it is time for the Liberal government to step up and provide regulation for ride sharing services, such as Uber and Lyft to ensure the safety of consumers across Ontario.
Harris made a motion to that effect yesterday at Queen's Park, saying that the government laying down a set of provincewide standards was long overdue.
"22 U.S. states have passed legislation to govern ride-sharing. In fact, just last week, the state of Kansas passed a law that would govern transportation network companies state-wide," said Harris.
"Even the Philippines have become the first country to introduce regulations on ride-sharing across their entire country. In Ontario it's been debated in most of our major cities, and so I feel it's imperative."
"As legislators in Ontario, we have a duty to protect citizens right across the province, instead of this patchwork of policy in one community over another. Let's provide that baseline of standards to allow for ridesharing to exist," said Harris.
"This would require changes to several provincial acts," said Harris. "Obviously there would be changes to the Highway Traffic Act, obviously there's an insurance component."
Currently, there's personal insurance that would cover drivers, and commercial insurance to cover companies, but no insurance to cover the passengers in Uber and Lyft vehicles.
Harris said insurance regulations would provide a baseline of coverage across the province, but still allow for municipalities to create their own regulations on top of that.
"The Ontario government could work with the Financial Services Commission of Ontario, to ensure that both drivers and consumers are properly insured while ridesharing. That would allow an offering through an insurance company, and we have met with several who are interested in providing an offering," said Harris.
According to the office of Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca, the minister has yet to read the proposal.