Give us a break!

Toronto’s taxi business has been the playground for politicians and special interest groups of all stripes for far too long. The result, to date, is that all the best intentions in the world have led to nothing but disaster for all.

Industry advocates hope for big changes at City Hall

Don’t like the way Toronto Council runs the taxi industry? Then get out October 25 and vote for change, say the City’s long-suffering critics

by Mike Beggs

On October 25, Torontonians will take to the polls to elect a new Mayor, and 44 members of Council. And while some may hold out little hope for improvement of their lot, taxi industry owner/activist Gerald Manley maintains it’s crucial for industry members to get out and do their democratic duty.

“It’s absolutely critical,” he says. “I think, over the last two or three decades Councillors Howard Moscoe and Denzil Minnan-Wong have been the establishment at the Licensing & Standards, and look where our industry is. It’s horrible,” he states.

“And if we don’t get a new Mayor who will make changes, it will never get any better.”

Manley reasons that with 12,000-plus cab industry members and their friends and family voting and with the knowledge that only about 26 percent of the electorate got out to vote in 2006 -- “we could get some of those people out of there.” MORE

Addai hearing raises old questions about plate issuing

By John Q. Duffy

Over the years, much confusion, misinformation and various allegations have spread about why and how taxicab owners’ names were placed on the list of people eligible to receive taxicab plate issues from the City.

It is important to revisit these cases, particularly in light of some parts of the testimony from a couple of taxicab driver witnesses who testified at the Human Rights Tribunal hearing brought by Ambassador driver Asafo Addai, alleging that the Ambassador program is fundamentally racist.

Although this paper reported the cases at the time they were published by the courts, evidently some in the industry have forgotten them, or never knew they existed.

It became apparent that too many people have no idea how these decisions directly and indirectly affected subsequent events.

The simple reality is that the taxicab owners’ names were placed on the list as a direct result of decisions in two court cases.

For various reasons, the old Metropolitan Licensing Commission allowed two lists of names to be compiled, one for taxicab owners and one for taxicab drivers, and new issues of plates were from those lists in order of seniority. MORE

City ignoring taxi input on Union Station, say critics

Industry members outraged by lack of consideration given to
role of cabs in revitalized national transportation hub

by Mike Beggs

After a decade of talks, the five-year, $640-million revitalization of Toronto Union Station finally kicked off in June, jointly funded by the three levels of government.

Dating back to 1927, the City-owned Union Station ranks as Canada’s largest rail hub, handling 65 million passengers per year -- a number expected to double by 2030.

In announcing the project, Mayor David Miller said the changes will, “enable Toronto Union Station to rival some of the most renowned train stations in the world.”

But while taxi industry leaders have been included on an ad hoc committee, overseen by the City’s Planning & Transportation Committee (P&T) since 2002, several of them say the role of cabs has not been given rightful consideration in the planning process. And present plans would involve slashing the number of taxis on the longstanding stand outside Union Station by five or six spaces, while adding a small stand outside the east entrance (open to all cabs), and an already constructed stand on Bremner Street.

After spending 1.5 years in talks with P & T staff, driver Louis Seta suggests he and other industry spokespeople have been paid lip service by the City. MORE