Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders has agreed to a meeting with representatives from the taxi industry, bringing an end to a 12-hour anti-Uber protest that caused major traffic delays downtown.
“I have spoken (with) Chief Saunders and he has agreed to meet (with) members of the taxi industry,” Toronto Mayor John Tory said in a tweet at approximately 7 p.m.
Taxi drivers gathered at four locations in Toronto on Wednesday morning as part of a demonstration against Uber Canada. They then drove slowly, blocking major Toronto highways and roads, before congregating in front of City Hall and Queen's Park.
As their taxis sat in front of City Hall, the drivers gathered outside the front doors, chanting and holding signs reading “Enforce the law.”
Tory said Saunders would meet with taxi industry representatives as long as the blockage at Queen and Bay Streets ended by 7:30 p.m. Protesters finished clearing the intersection shortly before 8 p.m.
A statement released by the taxi drivers Tuesday said the demonstration was aimed at urging city officials to "enforce the existing laws regarding Uber, including Uber X."
Mark Saunders told reporters on Wednesday there is little the city or the police can do until new laws are passed.
The Highway Traffic Act, he explained, doesn’t allow Toronto police officers to work under cover to apprehend unlicensed taxis.
“Until that changes…we’re handcuffed. We can’t do anything with that,” Saunders said.
City staff say they have laid 190 charges against Uber drivers since the beginning of October.
Officer injured, taxi driver arrested
Several incidents were reported in the city in connection with the protest, including one that left an officer injured.
Toronto police said an officer on a bike was struck by a cab as the vehicle crawled down Yonge Street. The officer was taken to hospital with minor injuries and the incident is under investigation.
In the area of Bay and Queen Streets, a cab driver was dragged by a vehicle he suspected was being operated by an UberX driver, after the cabbie tried to confront the person inside the vehicle. The cab driver grabbed the car's door handle and hung on, which led to him being dragged several metres by the vehicle.
The incident was captured by freelance photojournalist Mark Blinch.
Saunders expressed his disappointment over the incident.
“Everyone is allowed to lawfully protest…but when people start misbehaving, that’s when we’ve got a problem,” Saunders said.
The police, he added, would “do whatever is necessary at the given moment” to ensure that the demonstrations do not threaten public safety.
At City Hall, Mayor Tory asked drivers to "stand down," saying the city is in the process of modernizing its rules to include Uber.
"These tactics are disruptive and dangerous," Tory said Wednesday. "The point has been made."
Not all taxi companies or groups representing cab drivers are in favour of the protest.
On Wednesday afternoon, Beck Taxi released a statement “calling on all taxi drivers to stand down.”
On Tuesday, the Toronto Taxi Alliance said it “does not support any tactic which will disrupt traffic or transportation for Toronto drivers and residents.”
Cab drivers' frustration is directed at UberX, Uber Canada's most popular service, which has been operating in Toronto for a year. The service connects app users with people who have signed up to be drivers using their own vehicles.
But Saunders said the demonstrations were “impacting the wrong people,” adding that taxi drivers should focus their efforts on talking to legislators instead of causing traffic headaches for commuters.
"I understand the frustration (of taxi drivers) but at the same time two wrongs are not going to make a right," Saunders said.
Uber has been able to get around the city's laws by claiming that UberX is a communication service, not a cab company. So far, UberX drivers are not required to purchase taxi licences or complete the City of Toronto's required taxi training program.
As a result, Uber charges significantly less per ride than traditional cabs.
"We've suffered enough, our industry is dying. We're on our last legs," taxi industry representative Sam Moini told media ahead of the protest.
"We have an illegal company dictating to the city how to operate their laws, and which laws they should enforce."
In what Moini called a "last ditch effort" to encourage a city-wide crackdown, hundreds of cabs blocked highways and major roads around Toronto's Pearson International Airport on Wednesday morning, driving slowly to block rush hour traffic.
Some frustrated commuters chose to drive on the sidewalk to get around the slow-moving vehicles.
Toronto Police Const. Clint Stibbe said officers are monitoring the situation, and some taxi drivers have been handed tickets.
Those given a ticket are charged with unnecessarily slow driving, which carries a $110 fine and two demerit points upon conviction.
Stibbe said he did not know how many had been ticketed, but expected to have the numbers by the end of the day.
UberX prepared for increase in fares
Ahead of the protest, Uber Canada sent a message to its UberX drivers, encouraging them to be in the downtown area by 7 a.m. because of the protest.
"Last time this happened in June, Uber had HUGE business for Uber partners," the memo obtained by CTV News said.
The city's Municipal Licensing Committee is in the process of coming up with a “regulatory framework” for all ground transportation in the city, including Uber.
The new framework will ensure Uber will be required to apply as a taxi brokerage and pay an annual fee. That means Uber will only be allowed to connect users with licensed cabs.
A report on the new framework is expected to come before council in the spring.
In September, Toronto taxi companies and the city also agreed to reduce the base fare of cab rides from $4.25 to $3.25 to make traditional cabs more competitive with Uber.
With a report from CTV Toronto’s Natalie Johnson, Heather Wright and Austin Delaney
