(Image: Unsplash/ Representational)
Ottawa taxi drivers have won a 2016 lawsuit against the City of Ottawa alleging that authorities allowed Uber to operate illegally for two years in the city, which threatened the livelihood of many taxi drivers.
An Ottawa-based taxi operator Metro Taxi Ltd and taxi plate holders Marc André Way and Iskhak Mail had filed a $215-million class action lawsuit representing approximately 1,187 plate holders in Ottawa in 2016. Finally, on Monday, May 13, Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Smith released a decision in favour of the taxi drivers.
The court said that the City of Ottawa was negligent in enforcing its own taxi bylaws, permitting Uber to operate illegally for two years, beginning in 2014.
The ruling has been welcomed by taxi drivers in the city. Unifor, the union representing many members of the taxi industry in Ottawa welcomed the ruling, saying that taxi drivers ‘finally have some justice after being abandoned by the city.’
Unifor National President Lana Payne said, “Hard-working, established taxi drivers in Ottawa finally have some justice after being abandoned by their city, who succumbed to the whims of multinational tech giants. Meanwhile, hundreds of families relying on incomes from taxi services were left to fend for themselves without any support from the City of Ottawa.”
Unifor Ontario Regional Director Samia Hashi also welcomed the ruling, stating: “The negligence of the city caused drivers irreparable loss to the value of their plates. Plates that were once worth upwards of $300,000 are now worth $10,000 or less. While we can’t turn back the clock on what happened, our union is pleased to see the courts make the City of Ottawa and Uber accountable.”