In a move that caught Toronto cabbies and city officials by surprise, the Ontario government has quietly amended the City of Toronto Act to ensure that airport-licensed taxis and limousines can't be prohibited from picking up fares within city limits.
The provincial amendment ensures the death of a contentious city bylaw that aimed to permit only Toronto-licensed taxis and limos to take passengers to the airport – a short-lived victory for local taxi drivers in a 30-year fight over the lucrative fares.
The city was preparing to defend the bylaw, passed by council Dec. 13, 2007, which would force airport limos to return to Pearson without a fare after bringing passengers downtown. It was suspended by court injunction pending a legal challenge by the limousine drivers and owners.
But Municipal Affairs Minister Jim Watson has effectively rendered the bylaw and the legal challenge moot. On July 30, he signed a regulation into the City of Toronto Act that permits airport-licensed taxicabs to pick up passengers from any point within Toronto. Neither the city nor local industry representatives were consulted on the amendment, although the act empowers the minister to make such a change unilaterally.
Mr. Watson declined an interview Monday. A spokesman said the amendment is designed to “support the efficiency and choice available to people travelling from Toronto to Pearson Airport.â€
“We had the rug pulled from under our feet,†said Andy Reti, a retired taxi owner and member of an industry committee that was supposed to meet Aug. 25 to discuss the issue with Mr. Watson's designate. “This is dirty politics of the highest order.â€
Howard Moscoe, chairman of the city's licensing and standards committee, said the change came as a complete surprise. He said Mayor David Miller's office received a “last minute†phone call from the premier's office giving notice of the amendment.
Mr. Miller is on vacation and was not available for comment yesterday, but a spokesman confirmed the province acted on its own.
“The ink is barely dry on the City of Toronto Act when the Premier, without discussion, without consultation, arbitrarily changes the regulations,†Mr. Moscoe said. “He just stabbed the taxi industry in the back and the City of Toronto, to boot.â€
Ronald Slaght, the lawyer who represents the three limousine companies that operate at Pearson, said the bylaw would have meant “curtains†for the industry. He argued in court that 70 per cent of their business involved driving passengers from Toronto to the airport. Many are corporate and government clients.
“I hope everybody can just accept it and the world will keep going,†Mr. Slaght said Monday, adding his clients feel “as if justice has been done.â€
The dispute dates back to 1978, when the province added a “pick-up†exemption for airport taxicabs into the Municipal Act. Toronto cabbies, who could count on five to six airport runs a week, saw the lucrative fares disappear. Toronto taxi drivers are also prohibited from picking up at Pearson unless the trip is prearranged and they pay a $10 fee to the airport.
After much lobbying, the Liberal government agreed to remove the exemption from the new City of Toronto Act, which was proclaimed Jan. 1, 2007. Toronto tried to reinforce its licensing rights with the bylaw.
Taxi industry advocate Gerry Manley estimates local cabbies have lost out on more than $1-billion in airport fares over three decades, basing his calculations on an average of two airport runs per shift, per week, for each licensed plate, at an average fare of $45. He said the bylaw would have meant an extra $100-$200 per week in the pockets of cabbies.
“The cream of our business is being stolen from us by the province,†he said.
Toronto has about 3,400 standard taxi plates on the roads, another 1,540 ambassador plates and at least 500 licensed limos. The Greater Toronto Airport Authority has issued about 650 plates to taxis and limousines.