Taxi drivers, city of Ottawa closely watching Toronto Uber debate
Toronto looks for way to regulate Uber that doesn't decimate taxi industry
Taxi drivers in Ottawa watched Toronto city hall closely Wednesday as councillors debated how to bring Uber under its regulatory wing.
The upstart ride-hailing service, which allows passengers to hail cabs using a smartphone app, has thrown the traditional taxi industry for a loop and created regulatory headaches for cities across Canada and beyond.
"We want Uber to be regulated, but it'd have to be a one-tier system, not a two-tier system. We want Uber to follow all the bylaws we follow," said Amrik Singh, who heads Unifor Local 1688 which represents some 1,800 licensed taxi drivers in Ottawa."
In operation for only six years, Uber is in 25 Canadian municipalities, and making a deep dent in the ridership and revenues of traditional cabs.
Toronto councillors attempted Wednesday to tackle how Uber can be regulated in a way that doesn't decimate traditional cabs.
The city's mayor, John Tory, has said he wants to find an answer, and while the city must acknowledge that Uber and services like it aren't going away, they can't continue to operate outside municipal rules.
In Ottawa, tempers have flared over the impact Uber is having on the local taxi industry. Earlier in September, police investigated after a video appeared online that apparently showed a taxi driver threatening an Uber driver and calling him "dead meat."
In August, Mayor Jim Watson called a group of local taxi drivers "thugs" after they secretly filmed their interactions with Uber drivers in an attempt to gather evidence showing Uber was violating the city's bylaws.
Follow laws or 'be banned'
Singh told CBC's Adrian Harewood that it's integral that Uber follow those bylaws, which require — among other things — that taxi drivers have a proper license.
"I think anybody who [doesn't] follow the laws should be banned. That's why we have laws," he said. "They were written for a reason."
Coun. Diane Deans, who chairs the community and protective services committee, said Wednesday that the city will also closely watch the debate in Toronto, but that they're focused on a "made-in-Ottawa" solution.
The city has sped up its review of its taxi bylaw and expects a full report by the end of the year.