Oral closing arguments July 4 and 5 in Ottawa Taxi court case, Zoom link here
July 4th and 5th have been reserved for oral submissions in the Metro Taxi vs City of Ottawa trial. Observers expect that a decision from the judge on the liability issue will come in the late fall 2023 or winter of 2024.
Following Judge Smith’s s decision on liability, there will the be evidence and argument over damages.
If the City of Ottawa is found liable, the judgement could be as much as $215,000,000, plus pre-and post-judgment interest, plus costs.
Counsel for the plaintiffs Conway Litigation believes that this dollar figure is an accurate reflection of the losses suffered by taxicab owners and brokers through the devaluation of the plate value and loss of income to brokers. Lawyers for the City of Ottawa argue the opposite.
A possible alternative to this judgement could be an out-of-court settlement involving the creation of a compensation regime under which active rideshare drivers and active taxicab drivers pay a nominal fee per ride that goes toward compensating the MS1 class members.
The July 4th and 5th proceedings will be available to view via Zoom link. The details to join by Zoom are below. Unless new information is provided, the hearing will begin at 10am. Participants have not yet been informed as to which courtroom we are in; however, this will be communicated as soon as this information is made available to share.
The webinar ID: 681 6146 1240
Passcode: 565352
Read Ottawa’s written closing statement here.
Read Metro’s written closing statement here.
