Ottawa to appeal Taxi decision, CBC says

Memo shared with CBC, CTV says City will appeal Smith’s Uber decision

In a memo evidently leaked to select media, Ottawa staff recommend the City appeal all of Justice Marc Smith’s original 2024 decision. In that decision, Smith found that “Uber was a bandit taxi company” and “Ottawa was negligent” for not enforcing its own by-laws when Uber arrived in 2016.

Such a decision would essentially re-start the legal process, so that Taxi plate holders hoping to receive a portion of the $215 million claim made in the first phast of the case would now be required to wait several years further before they could hope for settlement.

This appeal will likely cause considerable distress among Taxi plate owners and their family members who have waited more than a decade for these decisions. Already in 2026, multiple owners have died waiting for resolution, with some telling Taxi News they believe Ottawa is intentionally dragging out the process, waiting for them the die of old age.

“City solicitor Stuart Huxley informed mayor and council Monday that he’s instructed outside council to file notices of appeal on the 2024 findings,” the CBC reported on October 27th.

Conway Litigation, legal counsel for the plaintiffs including Metro Taxi’s Marc Andre Way and Ishkhak Mail, has updated its dedicated class action webpage with the following information:

“On October 26, 2026, the Superior Court issued its decision on the aggregate damages issue (Common Issue #5). The Court held that damages assessed in the aggregate is the appropriate remedy. The Court’s decision can be accessed in the Documents section of this webpage.

On October 26, 2026, the CBC reported that the City solicitor had notified Ottawa City Council of his instructions to the City’s legal counsel to file notices of appeal of the Superior Court’s findings on Common Issue #1 (negligence) and #5 (aggregate damages). If the City of Ottawa appeals the Superior Court’s findings, the case will proceed to the Court of Appeal for Ontario. An appeal could take 1-3 years to be determined.

The Superior Court has ruled that the quantification of damages will be decided after any appeals of the trial decision are completed.”