July 4th and 5th Ottawa court proceedings postponed
Justice Michael Smith unavailable this week
The July 4th and 5th court proceedings in Metro Taxi vs City of Ottawa have been postponed and will not take place this week as originally scheduled and announced.
“I am still involved with my civil jury trial,” Justice Michael Smith informed legal counsel for both sides in an email on Friday, June 30th.
“As such, the oral submissions that were scheduled to proceed on Tuesday and Wednesday (July 4 and 5) will have to be rescheduled. I will ask the trial coordination office to reach out to you and reschedule the hearing. Thank you. M. Smith J.”
Marc Andre Way, one of the plaintiffs in the case and president of the Canadian Taxi Association called the delay “very frustrating.”
In January and February 2023, seven weeks of court time were alloted to this hearing, which was certified in 2018. Members of Ottawa’s taxi industry launched the $215 million class-action lawsuit in April 2016, alleging the city did not protect drivers and the industry when ride-sharing services hit city streets. The suit also claims the city discriminated against minority taxi plate holders by failing to enforce its own bylaw and changing the bylaw to allow private transportation companies.
A key element of this trial has been the allegation that the City of Ottawa “in failing to enforce its By-law and in changing the By-law, the City discriminated on the basis of race, colour, ancestry, ethnic or national origin, religion or creed, language, place of origin, or citizenship, contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Ontario Human Rights Code,” according to the class action.
The lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Metro Taxi Ltd., co-owner Marc Andre Way and Iskhak Mail, with the lawsuit seeking damages on behalf of taxi plate owners and brokers.
As a result of the delay in the proceedings, Taxi News is working to determine if the Zoom links and password previously published will remain usable. If a new link is provided in future, Taxi News will publish it as soon as it becomes available.
