City councillors have decided to hold off on making any decisions regarding taxi regulations until a court decides whether Uber can legally operate in Toronto.
During Tuesday's city council meeting, councillors voted in favour of a motion to defer taxi-related reforms until a court decision is made regarding Uber.
The city is seeking a court injuction against Uber and a hearing will be held on May 19 that could halt Uber’s Toronto operations altogether.
"One of the things Uber needs to do is follow the law and follow the rules and until such time as they do that, it is going to be difficult to having any type of meaningful discussions with them," Deputy Mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong told CP24 Tuesday afternoon.
Earlier in the meeting, councillors were asked to consider motion to revive a type of transferable licence that was previously scrapped.
In February 2014 council voted in favour of a major overhaul of the taxi industry that sought to end a two-tiered licencing system and shift to a model that would see a greater number of owner-operated cabs on Toronto streets by requiring all drivers to be behind the wheel of their vehicles for at least 38.5 hours per week.
The change, however, came under immediate opposition from members of the taxi lobby who said it would devalue their lucrative investment and impact their ability to turn a profit.
The Toronto Taxi Alliance then challenged the changes in court with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice eventually ruling that the city hadn’t given the industry proper notice to impose a 2024 deadline for drivers to switch over to the new Toronto Taxicab Licence, putting council’s efforts in limbo.
The motion that was before council today called on council to reinstate the taxi regulations that were in place prior to July 1, 2014, effectively scrapping the reform that has dominated much of council’s time for the last year.
The motion was supported at a meeting of the licensing and standards committee last month but it won't necessarily gain widespread support at council.
In fact, a number of councillors have already expressed concerns about moving away from a single-tier licensing system with Mayor John Tory telling the Toronto Region Board of Trade on Monday that it is akin to "sticking our head in the sand.”
A staff report that accompanied the motion also warned of some of the adverse consequences that could follow its passing, including making the city’s goal of 100 per cent wheelchair accessibility in cabs “unattainable.”
Food trucks also on agenda
In addition to taxi licensing, city council also voted to loosen the rules surrounding food trucks today.
City councillors voted in favour of allowing food trucks to operate within 30 metres or more of traditional brick and mortar restaurants opposed to the current standard of 50 metres or more.
The time limit for operating on any given street will also be increased to five hours from three under the changes and a new six-month and nine-month licence will also be made available to food trucks not wishing to operate year-round.
The changes come one year after the city liberalized its rules around street food, allowing food trucks to park on city streets for the first time. Previous to that food trucks were effectively banned from public property.
“I think food trucks for a lot of residents are emblematic of what they want to see from city hall. Let entrepreneurs do their business and give residents their choices,” Coun. Josh Colle told CP24 on Tuesday.
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