Uber welcomes Jacques Daoust, Quebec's new minister of transport
Taxi drivers threaten to block main arteries in Quebec City if province fails to crack down on Uber
Uber Quebec, the ride-hailing company, was quick to welcome Quebec's newly appointed minister of transport after Thursday's shuffle in the provincial cabinet.
The company issued a statement, congratulating Liberal MNA Jacques Daoust on his new role while simultaneously praising the City of Edmonton for legalizing Uber as of March 1.
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"We're eager to work collaboratively with him to bring progressive regulatory solutions to the hundreds of thousands of people in Quebec that rely on Uber daily," said Jean-Nicolas Guillemette, the general manager of Uber Quebec.
Uber is currently illegal in Quebec, but Daoust says he needs more time to evaluate the situation before he can comment on it.
"I want to look into this by Monday with the people , the ministry, staff are supposed to have a meeting," said Daoust.
"I want to have the real priorities and then when I'm informed we'll see what they recommend and what I decide to do."
'It's an illegal transportation'
Cab drivers in Quebec City prevented civil servants from entering Revenue Quebec for 20 minutes to protest the rise of Uber.
"We can't believe that the government would let money slip away like this," said Hicham Berouel, the president of an Anti-UberX movement.
"It's hundreds of millions of dollars that's taken away each day from the taxi industry and from the government."
Drivers have threatened to block major arteries in the province's capital.
Claude Pigeon, a director for Quebec's transport control, says there are 300 peace officers handing out fines and seizing vehicles around the province.
"It's an illegal transportation and the peace officers are still continuing to apply those laws, we'll be there until the activities are stopped," said Pigeon.