On the afternoon of Friday, April 8, hundreds of Montreal taxi drivers gathered in front of Premier Phillipe Couillard’s McGill College office to protest the delay of the measure that the government was supposed to take against the very popular, ride-sharing app Uber. The protest caused hundreds of cabdrivers to block traffic on McGill College Avenue at Sherbrooke Street West on Friday.
This is not the first time that taxi drivers have protested against the company and the government. Just a few months ago, the drivers were again blocking traffic at rush hour, honking their horns incessantly in front of the Uber’s Montreal offices, which, along with Uber vehicles, were pelted with eggs.
Public hearings into Uber and the taxi industry were held last month. A new law was promised to be implemented by March 31, with the conditions that the taxi industry stop all the protests. Benoit Jugand, a representative for the RTAM-Metallos Union that represents Montreal’s taxi drivers, stated, “It’s been 18 months. We have some promise that’s been made from the Transport Minister [Jacques Daoust], saying that we’d have a law but that’s not happening.”
Taxi drivers have been strongly expressing their frustration with Uber, especially with the UberX app that allows people to use their own cars as taxis and charge at a lower price than ordinary taxis. They believe that the government has failed to defend the interests of taxi drivers by not taking action to regulate Uber and that this lack of action has been threatening the livelihood of taxi drivers and creating unfair competition.
Their frustration was evident in the protest on Friday. One taxi driver, Joseph Fortin argued, “There’s no other way to say it, it’s illegal and it’s our livelihood that’s at risk… it’s not ride-sharing, it’s operating an illegal taxi.”
In response to Friday’s protest, Jean-Nicolas Guillemette, a spokesperson for Uber and UberX, said, “For its part, Uber will continue to protest in the best way it knows how, by offering a service that’s reliable, safe and affordable to Quebecers,” further encouraging Uber users to voice their support throughout social media.
Just this week, Toronto proposed legislation to regulate UberX by relaxing rules for conventional taxi drivers and brokerages and adopting stricter restrictions on UberX. Guillemette commented, “I think those two cities and Ontario government have shown it’s possible and I hope the Quebec government will have the same leadership.”
The Montreal Gazette compares the struggle to a fight between a highly regulated industry and a free-market system. It’s difficult to say whether the taxi industry or Uber is right; however, there is no doubt the world is always going to be changing with new ideas or innovations that pop up to replace or improve upon the old, and Uber is just one of many that are going to be affecting the job industry.
The taxi drivers intend to continue their pressure tactics until the promised progress is made by the government.
Information obtained from:
http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/taxi-drivers-protest-uber-with-afternoon-demo…?
http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/quebec-taxi-limo-drivers-plan…
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-taxi-drivers-uber-protest-…
Image obtained from:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-taxi-drivers-uber-protest-…