Police disperse crowd at city hall after taxi industry hurls accusations at Mississauga Mayor

Mississauga.com
Aug. 18, 2016
Rachael Williams

Peel Regional Police were called to city hall after taxi industry representatives screamed at Mayor Bonnie Crombie for her handling of the Uber file.

“How much are they (Uber) paying you?” shouted Karam Punian, of the Airport Limousine Drivers Association in Toronto.

Punian made the accusations during a public vehicle pilot program committee meeting on Thursday, while committee members were discussing how best to tackle vehicle age requirements for public vehicles transporting customers.

Mississauga’s current bylaw states drivers applying for public vehicle licensing for the first time must have a car that is three years old or less.  These vehicles are only legally allowed to be on the road for seven years.

Committee members passed a motion to ensure these standards remain in place during the one-year pilot program, which will test Uber and other ride-sharing programs in the city.

But when discussing best practices of other municipalities, most of which do not have as strict regulations, Crombie requested further review of the vehicle age requirement.  

Angered by what Punian said is a constant reneging on decisions by Crombie, he stood up and starting hurling accusations of corruption and bribery at the mayor.

“We’ve never seen a shameless mayor like this one,” said Punian.

Committee chair Ron Starr asked Punian to sit down several times before requesting city hall security guards remove him from council chambers.

Fellow taxi industry representatives stood up in support of Punian and shouted at Crombie and committee members for what they perceive as a blatant disregard of current city regulations and ultimately, their livelihoods.

As a result of the outbursts, Starr adjourned the meeting.

“The debate about how to regulate transportation network companies (TNC) is not going away and we need to get it right,” said Crombie.

This is the second time a pilot program committee meeting was postponed as a result of public outbursts from the taxi industry.

In June, Peel Regional Police and security had to escort members of the crowd out of council chambers after an individual aired his grievances over how driver background checks are conducted.

Chris Schafer, public policy manager for Uber, pointed out that it uses a third party intermediary that works with the local police service to conduct background check.

Starr and taxi industry representative on the committee, Mark Sexsmith, had concerns that this method lends itself to the potential of document tampering.

Thursday’s committee meeting was the fourth since it was formed on May 25.

The deadline for the pilot program to be in place was June 29.

Mississauga city council had told Uber in May it would have to take its drivers off the road until the pilot program was completed.

The company failed to comply.

Enforcement staff has issued in excess of 350 charges against unlicensed taxicab drivers. They are all currently before the courts. 

There is no date yet as to when the next meeting will take place.