Cornwall’s Choice Taxi retains Conway Litigation
Rush to new rideshare by-law which favours American firms
Cornwall’s Choice Taxi has retained Conway Litigation as the border city appears ready to write new by-laws legalizing rideshare in September, 2026.
Farooq Muhammad of Choice Taxi told Taxi News he is hopeful that Cornwall will take the time to listen to the Taxi industry before rushing into changes: “No one has even spoken to us about anything,” he points out.
Conway Litigation is the law firm which delivered the most significant legal victory in Canada regarding Uber and rideshare in May 2024 when Justice Marc Smith found that the City of Ottawa was negligent in not enforcing its by-laws on Uber.
American corporation a monopoly over the vehicle for hire market in Cornwall, all at a time where
our country faces a dire economic threat from the United States,” Joseph Rucci wrote the City of Cornwall on August 26th, 2026.
Conway believes Cornwall’s process is procedurally unfair and discriminatory for reasons including that it appears that City staff already began developing the by-law prior to Council’s special meeting, in consultation with Uber and without notice to the public.
In an August 26th letter to Cornwall’s Mayor Justin Towndale, Joseph Rucci of Conway writes that Cornwall’s process “has been marked by its speed, as well as its lack of fairness and transparency. It privileges American business interests and will have disastrous consequences for local business in Cornwall.”
“Choice Taxi demands a transparent, fair, and good faith policy-making process, in which local Cornwall voices are heard and policy-making is not driven by large American tech companies,” writes Rucci.
Conway’s letter outlines what it proposes is a more fair and transparent consultation process.
“We request that the City confirm that Council will implement a new review regulatory process and not proceed with a vote on the draft on September 14th, all by next Friday, September 4, 2026. If we fail to receive this confirmation, Choice Taxi reserves the right to seek relief before the courts.”
Confusingly, in its haste to introduce rideshare by-laws in advance of the fall municipal elections, Cornwall appears to be unaware that the government of Ontario has already drafted and released rideshare regulations expected to be implemented province-wide after May 27, 2027.
Taxi News wrote Cornwall’s media office on August 29th to ask why the city was spending taxpayers’ dollars to develop a by-law which will almost immediately be superseded by Ontario’s province-wide regulations. No reply has been received at time of this posting; Taxi News will provide an update if a reply is received.
In a section headed “Cornwall fast-tracks the legalization of Uber,” Rucci writes that “Since at least early July, Mayor Justin Towndale and Deputy Chief Leighton Woods have been searching for ways to legalize Uber prior to the next municipal election. These efforts appear to have been prompted by lobbying and meetings between the Mayor and Uber.
“While the Mayor has admitted that he has met with Uber, he has not disclosed the timing or content of his meetings to the public. As the first step in this process, the City conducted an online vehicle for hire survey for only six days between July 11 to July 17, 2026. The survey posed 20 questions regarding vehicle for hire customer experience in Cornwall. It received only 321 responses. The questions were selective: the survey did not seek public opinion or views regarding the economic impact of legalizing Uber.”
