Opinion/Column – Page 55 – Taxi News & Road Warrior News

Unfortunately, it also marks the one year anniversary of the Freedom of Information (FOI) request filed with the City of Toronto, asking how many vehicle for hire drivers have been trained under the mandatory driver training program Council unanimously directed Licensing and Standards staff to re-instate in July, 2019.

One year ago, the answer to our question was “Zero.” Zero drivers have been trained since staff received the direction in 2019.

Today, the answer is still “Zero.” Zero drivers have been trained since we published the FOI response on April 11, 2021.

Guest Contributions Laugh a Little Opinion/Column

How to find a job – in case you really want to

March 20, 2022 Guest Contributor

by Hans Wienhold Editor’s Note: All dollar figures in this article are listed in 2002 dollars. I had a job once where I would interview a random sampling of people to get information about their labour market participation. A number

Photo: Pine Ridge Towing

Guest Contributions Opinion/Column Road Safety Discussion Trucking

Safer Highways Discussion: reader letters and comments

March 13, 2022 Guest Contributor

“I am wondering why there isn’t a graduated licensing system for truck drivers?”

Guest Contributions Opinion/Column Road Safety Discussion Trucking

Commercial Vehicle Driver Safety Improvement Proposal

March 10, 2022 Guest Contributor

We are a group of professional, working Truck drivers.

We are alarmed at the number of severe, avoidable collisions involving commercial vehicles we see on an almost-daily basis. While these incidents have becoming increasingly worse in Northern Ontario, it has become a problem throughout the entire country.

Our hope is to see commercial drivers become the safest drivers on the highways, as this should be the case already.

Guest Contributions Laugh a Little

Ottawa Police sending out non-ticket, non-legal proceeding letters

March 6, 2022 Rita Smith

In what appears to be a brand-new tactic developed to persuade Canadians to “change your driving habits,” the Ottawa Police Service is sending letters to drivers about whom there were complaints during the recent Freedom Convoy 2022 event in February.

News Opinion/Column Trucking

Feds kill idea of inter-provincial vaccine mandates, while Tamara Lich remains in jail

March 3, 2022 Rita Smith

Restrictions on interprovincial travel are forbidden under Canada’s Constitution and are the subject of a lawsuit against the government by Brian Peckford, the last living signatory of Canada’s 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Canada’s Transport Minister Omar Alghabra mused about implementing such restrictions during the Freedom Convoy 2022 in February.

Uber's head office in Toronto, Ontario. Photo: Taxi News

Feature/Profile Opinion/Column

The Big Lie that keeps the Uber bezzle alive

February 26, 2022 Guest Contributor

Here’s how that proposition worked: Uber loses a lot of money on every ride. But someday, it will corner the market on transit (not just taxi journeys, but all transit), and it will be able to raise prices and cut wages and recover all those loses and turn a profit.

Obviously, this is stupid. Even if Uber manages to blow through its investors’ billions in habituating us to rideshares over cabs and buses, even if they manage to bribe or bully cities into allowing takeovers by unlicensed cabs, even if they manage to rewrite labor laws so they can treat their employees as contractors…

Even if all of that, then what? Then you have a market that is structured for dominance by unlicensed taxis driven by misclassified employees – that anyone can enter. The (mythical) day Uber attains dominance and profitability, someone else can start a competitor that provides exactly the same services, with exactly the same drivers and exactly the same passengers. The only difference? That new service won’t be $31 billion in the hole, unlike Uber.

Opinion/Column Trucking

The Ripple Effect

February 25, 2022 Mike Murchison

In the US, American truckers are getting registered for a protest convoy to Washington, where military-grade fencing barriers have been placed around the Whitehouse and the capital building. No doubt, this is a precautionary measure due to the January 6th 2021 insurrection.

With truckers planning a Freedom Convoy to Washington, and the protests here in Canada winding down, I can’t help but ask myself: will it matter? Will the American Freedom Convoy have the impact that the Canadian convoy did?

Opinion/Column Ride Hailing news Taxi industry news Trucking

Trudeau humiliated as even Senators he appointed were poised to vote against Emergencies Act

February 25, 2022 Ian Connerty

Trudeau was about to lose a vote in the Senate which was needed to ratify the Emergency Act, invoked to disperse a peaceful protest by the truckers Freedom Convoy in Ottawa. In addition, thousands of Canadians moved their bank accounts and investments out of the country fearing that their money might be frozen by Trudeau.

Senator David Wells from Newfoundland said: “The Government saw the writing on the wall and pulled the plug. Cabinet ministers and the government Senate leader started calling senators to assess support for continuation of the Act. The numbers weren’t looking good… That’s when the decision was made.”

The morning before Trudeau backed down, Pierre Dalphond, a Senator Trudeau himself had appointed from Quebec said: “I have decided to vote against the motion to authorize the continuation of the state of emergency, out of concern about the lack of judicial oversight in the freezing of assets,” because he believes it violates “the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure.”