Mark Saunders chose which laws to enforce

As Toronto’s Chief of Police, Mark Saunders helped shatter forever my belief that every Canadian is equal before the law. He stood by and allowed two of the plainest, clearest laws that exist to be violated, day after day after day from April, 2015 to November 30, 2016.  He destroyed the lives of thousands of hard-working, law-abiding citizens and sent a damning, dangerous signal to criminals that it was OK to break the law.

The idea that Mark Saunders is now running for Mayor of Toronto on any kind of platform indicating he will enforce the law and make the city safer makes me nauseous. It seems like a kind of sick, pathetic joke.

Toronto and Ontario welcomed Uber and allowed it to operate without license and without insurance for two years. Specifically, Mayor John Tory and Chief Mark Saunders in Toronto and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne looked the other way when Uber arrived and proceeded to transport paying passengers in clear violation of Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act, Section 39.1:

“(1) A driver of a motor vehicle other than a bus shall not pick up a passenger for the purpose of transporting him or her for compensation where a licence, permit or authorization is required to do so by,

(a) the Public Vehicles Act;

(b) a municipal by-law passed under Part IV of the Municipal Act, 2001;

(c) a regulation made under the Department of Transport Act (Canada); or

(d) an airport or airport authority,

except under the authority of such licence, permit or authorization. 2005, c. 26, Sched. A, s. 4.”

–Highway Traffic Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8

Further, Mayor Tory and Chief Saunders blithely ignored the fact that commercial insurance was required to transport passengers for compensation. Without an OPCF 6A endorsement on their insurance policy, no driver was insured to carry paying passengers. Uber was allowed to flout this law with impunity for years until Wynne’s Ministry of Finance re-wrote regulations to create a much cheaper insurance product for rideshare drivers (which, in the ultimate cruel irony, is still not available to Taxi drivers).

The behaviours of then-Mayor Tory and then-Chief Saunders were so flagrant and egregious, it was astonishing to watch. It was even more astonishing to see them get away with it. They were simply allowed to ignore and refuse to enforce existing laws. My faith in Canada’s Rule of Law died in 2016.

I got into heated debates with cops and media spokespersons on several occasions about how this could be allowed to happen; these were some of the most appalling conversations imaginable.

To a police officer enforcing security measures during a Taxi driver protest at City Hall, I once asked “When are you going to start enforcing the law on Uber?”

“When we get our directions from this place,” he replied, nodding to the floor of Council.

In a marathon 40-minute phone call with Mark Saunders’ public relations flack, I asked repeatedly why police did not enforce Highway Traffic Act or Insurance Act regulations on Uber.

“We cannot. We cannot. We cannot do that. We cannot,” he chanted like a zombie.

When asked why Taxis were subject to countless stupid tickets (such as not having a “no smoking” sticker) while Uber was subject to none of it, one police officer actually told me, “Well, we can see which cars are Taxis, but how do we know which cars are Uber?”

That was the whole point in having branded paint jobs and roof lights for Taxis: for safety. When rideshare arrived, police suddenly didn’t need to know who was driving and delivering for money any more. Being licensed to carry paying passengers was a whim, and insurance was a joke.

Eventually, John Tory and Toronto Council got organized to re-write the by-laws to legalize rideshare and a new insurance product became available. This took almost two long years, during which time Chief Mark Saunders and his police stood by and did nothing.

Business owners and professional drivers who had worked their entire lives naively in the belief that Canada had one law and everyone was equal before that law were crushed. They were devastated financially, intellectually and emotionally when they realized Toronto Council and Toronto Police could and would enforce the law selectively to benefit their favourite business buddies.

I really hate writing this column; just thinking about Mark Saunders’ behaviour during this period sickens me. He’s barely got the crushed cab drivers scraped from the bottom of his shiny Police Chief shoes and now he’s asking Torontonians to trust him as Mayor.

I am writing it, though, because somebody who was there at the time has to state for the record: Mark Saunders enforced only the laws he chose to enforce, for his own reasons. If that’s the Toronto you want, vote for Mark Saunders.

*****

Toronto Police Services Board Meeting

January 20th, 2016

Rita Smith deputation

“Good afternoon.

My name is Rita Smith, and I am the executive director of the Toronto Taxi Alliance, the TTA. However, I am not speaking on behalf of the TTA; I am speaking as a communications professional with 30 years’ experience at all levels of government and business.

You may recall that about 12 years ago and long before that, Toronto was being subject to an annual event at the end of the CNE.

Young people who were often drunk or high would run through the Ex grabbing stuffed animals, knocking over signs and generally creating mayhem that then spilled outside the Ex.

I recall an interview with the police chief at the time, and the firm message he delivered when he committed to preventing another episode of chaos:

‘The criminal element is not in control of this city. The police are in control of this city, and we will stop this.’

And they did.

Fast forward to 2016, and citizens of Toronto are hearing a completely different message, one that does not inspire confidence.

Instead of hearing that police have the power and the intention to enforce the law, both the Mayor and the Chief of Police have told media ‘We cannot enforce the law against Uber.’

This is an incredible occurrence, unlike anything I have ever seen in my lifetime.

I have lost track of the number of times people call me, email me, or approach me at meetings and ask, ‘How can the Mayor say he can’t enforce the law?’ or ‘How can the Chief of Police say he is powerless to enforce the law?’

How indeed?

From a communications point of view, this message is devastating.

Because EVERYBODY hears you say it: not just taxi drivers and Uber drivers.

Drug dealers heard it. Thieves heard it. Gang members heard it…shooters heard it.

No doubt, they rejoiced in hearing it!

Parents and kids heard it too. It did not inspire confidence.

Toronto has just experienced several bad months in terms of violence, shootings and murders.

Chief Saunders has referred to this as a ‘spike,’ some kind of anomaly.

I suggest you need to look to your language, and stop making public declarations of the fact that you are incapable of enforcing the law.

Find a different reason for why you are choosing not to enforce the law against Uber.

But for Toronto’s sake, please stop using this one.”

When Uber arrived in Toronto, it provided the Mayor’s staff with pre-written legislation it suggested the city use to write a new by-law. Taxi News received Uber’s helpful pre-written legislation as part of a Freedom of Information Act request. Photo: Taxi News