Judge denies injunction request to suspend Quebec's Uber deal
Ruling keeps in place deal that allows ride-hailing service to operate in Quebec for 1-year pilot project
The agreement between the Quebec government and ride-hailing service Uber has withstood its first legal challenge.
On Tuesday, a Quebec Superior Court justice denied a bid by the taxi industry for an injunction to suspend the Uber deal.
The injunction request was filed last week, on the grounds that Transport Minister Laurent Lessard went outside his powers in creating a agreement that runs parallel to Quebec's new taxi law.
But in a written decision, Justice Michel Déziel said, given that the Uber deal is not yet in effect, the injunction request was premature.
The deal hammered out between the government and Uber is slated to take effect Sept. 29.
It contains new rules and guidelines for the company and its drivers to abide by, and it allows Uber to continue operating in Quebec for another 12 months under a pilot project.
"Today's ruling is a confirmation that we can continue serving Quebecers under our agreement with the government," Uber Québec's general manager, Jean-Nicolas Guillemette, said in a statement.
"Our focus remains offering a quality transportation alternative under the terms established by the pilot project and imposed by the government."
Silver lining?
Representatives of the taxi industry, however, interpreted the judgment as containing a silver lining for their cause.
By recognizing that the pilot project is not yet in effect, the ruling implicitly demonstrates that Uber has been operating illegally for the past weeks, said Marc-Antoine Cloutier, lawyer for Le Front commun du taxi, which represents three large taxi-industry groups.
Cloutier told reporters that the ruling will form the basis of another injunction request the common front intends to file this Thursday.
"Somebody will have to explain to us why this company continues to let people get into its cars when they don't have the right to do so," Cloutier said.
Gabor Kovacs, who's been a taxi driver in Montreal for the last 25 years, says he's pleased the taxi industry will continue to fight.
"They're driving the same types of vehicles that we are," Kovacs said "They're not really playing by the same rules so that's not really fair. You have to play by the same rules otherwise what's the point?"
Unlike the injunction that was turned down on Tuesday, this next injunction will specifically target Uber. If successful, it would amount to a court order suspending Uber's ability to operate in Quebec.