Beck Taxi suing City of Toronto for failing to enforce accredited vehicle-for-hire driver training
Toronto's largest taxi brokerage is suing the city for $50,000 for allegedly allowing thousands of untrained and inadequately trained commercial drivers to “fill our streets.”
On Wednesday, Beck Taxi filed a claim at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against the City of Toronto for reportedly failing to fulfill its mandate to “create and implement regulations that protect public safety” by not requiring vehicle-for-hire drivers to undergo mandatory accredited training.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
The taxi company is claiming that the city’s existing programs, which at this point include an online-only course that can be completed in less than an hour, do not take into account the safety of all road users.
Among other things, Beck Taxi wants a mandatory injunction that would compel the City of Toronto to enforce its own accredited training bylaw for commercial drivers. They also want the licences of inadequately and untrained drivers revoked.
“It’s been six years that we’ve [been] begging the city do a good job,” Kristine Hubbard, Beck Taxi’s operations manager, told CP24.com. “It’s a huge mess. It’s very dangerous and irresponsible.”
The City of Toronto, in an email to CP24.com, said it has not been served with the court application from Beck Taxi, and “cannot comment on matters that are before the courts.”
Prior to 2016, vehicle-for-hire drivers in Toronto were required to undergo extensive and ongoing training, which included safe driving, the Human Rights Code, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), geography, driver safety, and customer service.
Those training requirements were, however, eliminated in 2016.
“The consequences were predictably quick and deadly,” the taxicab company said in a release.
Three years later, in 2019, Toronto City Council passed a bylaw that require mandatory training for new and renewing licensees. This accredited training program began on June 1, 2020 and included both in-car and defensive driving components.
However by October 2021, city staff had yet to set up an officially recognized program for this course.
Beck Taxi’s lawyer, Eric Gillespie, said this resulted in a public outcry as the city continued to issue and renew licences to “thousands of vehicle-for-hire drivers,” despite its own bylaw.
In Nov. 2021, licensing was paused until accredited training programs were put in place. City staff also reissued a month-long request for proposals for vehicle-for-hire training programs at that time.
“The RFP omitted most of the 2019 Public Safety and Training Measures from the requirement,” Beck Taxi said in its claim, which noted that the in-car and in-class components of the course were not longer required.
In April 2022, the city began accrediting training programs, but it was only required for new drivers.
Toronto’s roughly 50,000 existing drivers were not required to complete training as a condition of renewing their licences until last month, the taxicab company noted.
Two months later, the city reinstituted basic driver training with six accredited providers, however Beck Taxi says issues persist as there are no provisions to identify whether the test-taker is the same person seeking the licence, adding that tests contain questions that can be repeated indefinitely until they are answered correctly, which also allows participants to capture and share materials and questions.
The taxi company also said despite its many requests, the program still does not include or require an in-car or defensive driving component.
“Beck has been deeply concerned that the public interest has not been served and public safety has been put at risk by the actions of the City,” Beck Taxi said.
“Consequently, Beck had worked with Centennial College to design and implement a driver training program that included the foregoing primary training requirements in order to ensure that public safety was protected - an effort that was ignored by the City.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
U.S. Senate passes bill forcing TikTok's parent company to sell or face ban, sends to Biden for signature
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with big bipartisan vote
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.