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Addai responds to critics of rights case To the editor, The Toronto taxi intelligentsia is poised to use subterfuge to preserve the status quo. They are employing tactics, including spreading false rumors, fear mongering and baseless reasoning to muddy the issues. The positions they have taken implies their support for the Ambassador licence philosophy. The Ambassador Taxi program violates the Human Rights Code on many levels. These violations are what the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal is investigating and hopefully will redress. Should the case succeed at the Human Rights tribunal, there is the misconception that the standardization of taxi owners’ licences would add 1200-1400 new shifts on the road daily, causing an economic disaster. It has also been suggested that the motives of some of the supporters of the Human Rights case are not sincere and the drivers on the waiting list are more deserving of the standard owners’ licences. What will be the economic impact should systemic racism be a determinant in the Ambassador Taxi program? If the Human Rights Tribunal agrees with the allegation that racism played a role in the enactment of the Ambassador licence By-law, then the program should be scrapped. The industry has had over a decade to digest this law and no one has found it in them to speak against the impact it is having. Every one is caught up in protecting their economic interests without looking at the whole picture. Without equal rights there can be no lasting peace, and without peace the quest for lasting economic prosperity is ephemeral. I would have to assume standardization of owners’ licences would bring an end to the retirement benefits currently enjoyed by standard licence owners. The truth is, standard licence holders have had eleven years to put their businesses in order. Within that same time period almost 100 Ambassadors have returned their plates. Several dozen are on some type of medical leave. Further, there are no plans to rescue thousands of shift drivers from a predictable poor house down the road. The Ambassador program is bound to come to an end - it cannot continue indefinitely. The whole Toronto taxi industry needs an economic alignment, which should include all the 10,000 plus drivers who are in the industry. Accordingly, the overall health of the industry should override the temporary financial setback, if there is any, of standard plate holders. Finally, the worst thing that could happen to standard owners would be to sell their licences and invest somewhere else. I would like to add that the current under employment experienced by Toronto taxi drivers is the result of cyclical economic gyrations, and will soon come to pass. The second argument has to do with having 1200 to 1400 new shifts daily, if there was to be a uniform owners’ licence. This is absolutely not true. Here are some facts. There are about 5,000 combined taxi owners’ licences in Toronto. This includes W plates, Ambassador and standard plates. Also there are about 10,000 plus taxi drivers licensed in this city, of which about 1400 operate Ambassador taxi cabs and another 7,000 drivers work on standard taxi cabs. This leaves a surplus of about 1,500 to 1,700 drivers. Furthermore, there is no unemployment in the taxi industry that I know of. What we do have on occasion is underemployment and based on inference the 1,500 to 1,700 surplus drivers are agents, custodians and perhaps part timers. The numbers do not lie. If every cab in this city were to operate with a second driver you would not notice any change. The truth is this city has operated with a combined owners’ licence of over 5000 for more than five years. Besides, we have a huge city capable of sustaining those numbers into the future. The whole hypothesis is hocus-pocus planted to incite fear. The third point has to do with the sincerity of our supporters. This misinformation poisons the environment and is designed to cause division among us. It is obvious to all, except those with closed minds, that the Ambassador taxi law has failed. The Township of Markham recently abandoned a similar policy in their jurisdiction after initially following Toronto’s example. Those who want to maintain the status quo are determined to keep the Ambassador program alive regardless of the impact it is having on the lives of those who are bound by it. Now that they sense perchance things might go in the way of fairness and common sense, they are stepping up their efforts to mislead. Who are impacted the most by the Ambassador policy? The final point being made is that some Ambassador drivers should have been issued regular plates because their names were on the waiting list. How about the rest who did not have their names on the list? Herein lies the problem, laws must be passed in a manner where fairness applies equally to all. The failure to adhere to this simple precept resulted in the concoction of the Ambassador monstrosity. By all accounts it is a disappointment. It is unacceptable to have two sets of laws - one for haves and the other for the have nots. Moreover, there are no excuses to choose to remain unaware of the potential existence of discrimination. I am not sold on the idea that some are more deserving than others. If it is good for the goose then it must be good for the gander. Asafo Addai
Owners invited leasing regulation To the editor, The cab biz is as straightforward as it gets. Keep the drivers happy. Happy drivers make for happy customers. What makes drivers happy? Very simple - the opportunity to earn a decent living without having to work as an indentured slave. Are drivers entitled to dignity, self-respect and self-determination? Damn straight! Which brings us to leasing. Alongside fuel, monthly lease costs represent a driver’s biggest expense. Unlike all other expenditures, leasing costs are controlled exclusively by industry members; namely, the plate owners. Wouldn’t you think that those who own plates would strive to ensure that those who lease them have a fighting chance to succeed? In that same vein, wouldn’t you think owners would charge a reasonable amount when leasing their plates? Wouldn’t you think the last thing plate owners would do is put the squeeze on lessees by overcharging? How can anyone justify the outrageous lease amounts many owners are demanding from drivers - the very lifeblood of the industry? Though controversial, measures introduced by the City of Toronto to create a more level lessor/lessee playing field pale when compared to the collective greed exhibited by plate owners, content to stab themselves in the back by stabbing the drivers. Incredible. Peter Pellier
Police undermining taxi drivers’ best intentions To the editor, Our dispatcher recently asked if anyone had found a customer’s lost iPhone. Though drivers often find lost items in the car, and often go to great lengths to return them, in this case no one had found one. Then a driver said over the air that if you find one and can’t return it to the owner don’t turn it over to the police. Why? They’ll ticket you for failing to check the seat properly. Apparently it’s our job to make sure our passengers haven’t left anything behind. Ever heard of the word responsibility folks? I usually do a quick scan as and/or after the fare is leaving. But when it’s dark things are easily camouflaged and there are plenty of blind spots. Once a woman left a black purse in my car which I didn’t see the first time even while staring it. This is going to create a situation where if a fare loses something in a cab they can kiss it goodbye, courtesy of Toronto’s finest and the self-important officials behind them. This is so very symptomatic of our government’s mindset: greater control and more punishment as the solution to every problem. One day we’ll have so many rules, regulations and punishments in place we’ll have created a perfect world Ð so they appear to think. Ed Fox | ||||||
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