Mayor John Tory calls new taxi-Uber rules 'a balanced package’
Councillors may disagree; some are already planning a complete rewrite of the contentious staff recommendations.

thestar.com
April 8, 2016
By David Rider

Mayor John Tory doesn’t want to change a thing in Toronto’s proposed Uber taxi rules, despite pointed criticism from many - including his hand-picked licensing committee chair.

“I think it is a balanced package,” Tory said Friday from Shanghai, where he is leading a trade delegation.

“I just hope that Councillor (Cesar) Palacio will take his position as chair seriously and he will oversee a balanced, thoughtful discussion of this” at committee next week, he said.

Some councillors are vowing to do a complete rewrite.

Tracey Cook, the city’s head of licensing, on Thursday released a long-awaited list of about 100 recommendations for a partial deregulation of the taxi industry, alongside rules to legalize Uber and other ride-hailing services.

Taxi industry representatives and some councillors slammed the framework as heavily tilted in favour of Uber, which uses an app to connect riders to non-professional UberX drivers using their private vehicles.

Critics pointed to steeper fees charged to cabs, along with requirements such as onboard cameras that are not forced on Uber drivers. They also criticized the scrapping of safeguards such as a cabbie training course, a requirement to use snow tires and a rule that drivers be able to speak English, which don’t fit the Uber business model.

“While all those things would be nice to have, those things shouldn't be part of the regulatory requirement anymore,” Tory said. “The public are going to make their choice, now that they have one, based on the overall consideration of things including price, including the attitude of drivers.”

Palacio, choosing his words carefully, said Thursday his committee will try to “level the playing field” between Uber and cabs on police checks, vehicle inspections and licensing fees.

City council could undo any changes made by the committee next month.

Tory acknowledged the possibility, however, that the committee could shelve the report altogether, making the city start over in its bid to legalize UberX.

“Before I left I had conversations with members of the committee and said . . . it would not be fair to prevent the report getting to council for a full session,” Tory said.

Questions have been raised about differences in criminal background checks. Though it would appear there are two different processes for taxi drivers and Uber drivers, the city’s licensing division told the Star they achieve the same purpose.

Taxi drivers will still be required to apply directly to a police service for a criminal records check and give the results to the city when applying for a taxi licence.

Any prospective Uber drivers will continue to sign a waiver allowing Uber to conduct a criminal background check on their behalf through a third-party company (Uber Canada uses both Milton-based ISB Canada Inc. and multinational First Advantage).

In both cases, screenings are done by a police service, which checks the applicant’s information against the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database, the city’s licensing boss, Tracey Cook, said through her spokesperson.

The new rules prohibit any driver from obtaining a licence if he or she has been found guilty of various crimes, including sexual offences, as spelled out in the new regulations.

A major difference is that Uber would retain the criminal record check information, subject to city audits, while cab drivers must submit their records directly to the city.

Both groups must reapply for a criminal background check every four years as well as a driving record check, which identifies Highway Traffic Act convictions, annually.

The draft rules would see officials abandon a push, which began after a Star investigation, for more frequent background checks.

The Star investigation revealed that hundreds of cab drivers were still on the roads despite convictions for assaulting passengers, drunk driving and other Highway Traffic Act violations. Those violations in many cases weren’t being flagged because checks were renewed only every four years.

Between screenings, the onus is on cab drivers to report whether they have been convicted of any offence. Recent city records show some drivers are still not doing that and continuing to operate regardless.

The city promised in 2013 that staff would move toward requiring more frequent criminal background checks — possibly every two years or annually.

But those changes were never made. If the new draft regulations are adopted, the four-year standard will remain for both cab drivers and private vehicle-for-hire drivers.

“The frequency of submission was developed based on the division's capacity and consideration of the cost and burden on the licensee,” spokesperson Tammy Robbinson said in an email, adding that approach is still being reviewed as officials look for a way to “streamline” the process.