Hundreds of Montreal taxicab drivers blocked downtown traffic on Thursday, calling on the government to crack down on the ride-sharing company Uber.
The taxi drivers left a central location at 10 a.m., and drove slowly through the downtown core until they reached the provincial transport minister’s office.
The minister, Robert Poeti, later responded by saying that he plans to make it easier for municipal taxi bureaus to seize cars illegally operating as taxis. At least two Uber vehicles in Montreal have already been temporarily seized.
Thursday’s protest was the latest anti-Uber demonstration by cab drivers around the world, who say they must comply with costly municipal regulations, while drivers using online applications flout the rules and undercut them.
Uber’s main application allows users with smartphones to find and pay for rides from registered taxi drivers. A second application, Uber X, allows users to hire drivers using private cars.
Taxi drivers said they are losing business to Uber, whose drivers can afford to charge less than the regulated price, because they aren’t subjected to frequent mechanical inspections, permitting fees or higher insurance costs.
Ashkan Gorji, one of the cab drivers who participated in Thursday’s protest, said the app had brought “chaos” to the industry, and had made it harder to make a living.
“We’re going to paying all these fees for nothing,” he said. “If they want to do fair competition, we’re open to that. We just want it to be done the same way for all of us.”
Gorji said he was missing out on about $50 to $60 daily due to the apps.
Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey pegged the median wage of Quebec taxi drivers in 2013 at $13 per hour.
An Uber representative in Montreal scoffed at “the taxi monopoly” and said his company protects customers through background checks of its drivers.
“We want to protect [customers],” Jean-Nicolas Guillemette said. “But we don’t want to protect the taxi monopoly.”
Mixed reactions across Canada
After a similar protest was held by taxi drivers in Edmonton in January, city officials there said they would ticket unlicensed drivers.
That same month, bylaw officials in Ottawa started cracking down. They fined four Uber drivers $615 each and said they planned to ticket 10 more. The drivers said they would fight the charges.
Toronto Mayor John Tory took a different stance. He said in November that Uber was “here to stay,” despite a request by the city for an injunction against Uber over alleged bylaw infractions.
"It is time our regulatory system got in line with evolving consumer demands in the 21st century," Tory said at the time. "As mayor, I intend to see that it does, while being fair to all parties, respecting the law and public safety."
In October, Vancouver’s city council temporarily banned Uber for six months while promising to research the impact the technology could have on the taxi industry.
Applications like Uber have been banned in cities around the world, including Paris, Brussels, Frankfurt, Los Angeles and New Delhi. China has also outlawed them.
Tech experts weigh in
Brian Jackson, editor of the website itbusiness.ca, said Thursday that Uber is going to have to submit to regulations.
“Uber’s whole strategy so far has been to do what they want and ask for permission later,” he said. “It turns out governments aren’t in the mood for forgiveness.”
Carmi Levy, a technology analyst, said that Uber will eventually win over governments.
“This is a classic old economy versus new economy battle,” he said.
“You can ban them, but you’re not going to keep them out forever. It’s only a matter of time.”
With reports from CTV Montreal, CTV Toronto, CTV Edmonton, CTV Ottawa and CTV Vancouver
