At tourist centres, hotels and malls across the city, taxi drivers waiting for fares are watching and disrupting the long-awaited lawsuit against the city of Ottawa.
The $215 million lawsuit alleges the city failed to take reasonable steps to protect license plate owners when it approved Uber as its first ride-hailing company to operate legally in September 2016.
City-issued plates are required to drive taxis. Their number is limited, so plate owners have planned their retirement with the idea that they can sell them for a significant amount. That changed after Uber entered the market.
Now, more than xix years after Capital Taxi’s parent company filed the suit, the case is finally being heard.
Four weeks into the trial, which is expected to last at least seven weeks, the taxi drivers are joining the court proceedings on Zoom, entering the courtroom when they have time and breaking down what they heard in WhatsApp groups.
Ghassan Skaff — a taxi driver for 35 years
Skaff says he’s been following the case online and has been going to court when he’s had the chance. (Sarah Frizzell/CBC)
Skaff’s family is committed to the outcome of this trial. On Monday, he was driving with his wife’s license plate, but two of his brothers also owned the number.
“Fingers are crossed … This is the last chance, hoping that something will be of benefit to the drivers,” he said.
“We’ve been suffering for a long, long time. And we’ve been waiting for this for a long, long time.”
He said he followed online and went to court when he had the chance. He is encouraged that the case has managed to voice some drivers’ concerns about discrimination.
“If we have been silent, it does not mean that it did not happen. It happened. But now it’s going to court because now it’s out in the open.”
Even just a gesture would be nice for them to admit that yes, we were mistreated.- Ghassan Skaff, taxi driver
Skaff said no matter how the case ends, it will be the end of many driving careers.
“A lot of guys are going to quit, you know, nobody wants to work forever.”
Skaff sold a house he owned with his brother in 2005 to buy a license plate for $160,000. The plate is now worth $6,000.
WATCH | Taxi drivers monitor court proceedings:
‘Fingers crossed’: Taxi drivers monitor industry lawsuits
Ghassan Skaff and George Alkhouri described how the taxi industry has changed since the arrival of Uber. Skaf said he is following “every minute” of the court proceedings in the industry’s case against the city of Ottawa.
He said he bought the plate because he wanted a steady job, but then the city changed the rules with Uber.
“It hurt me and a lot of my other friends. If we get something out of the case, that’s good. I mean, even just a gesture would be nice for them to acknowledge that yes, we were abused.”
He said the city needs to recognize the service it will lose if drivers can’t afford to make a living.
“There are many old people who have to go to hospitals. They don’t use Uber. There are a lot of people who buy groceries but don’t take Uber. There are many people who do not have credit and debit cards. They can’t take an Uber.”
George Alhouri — a taxi driver for 33 years
Alhouri, 62, has been driving a taxi for 33 years. He bought his taxi plate for about $100,000. (Sarah Frizzell/CBC)
Alhouri was a boat captain before coming to Canada to escape the war in Lebanon. He wanted to continue doing this, but the family here convinced him to become a taxi driver.
He bought his plate for about $85,000 in 1990 from the wife of a dead driver. He paid it off in monthly installments of $1,000 over several years.
After paying off the bill, Alhouri continued to drive 16 hours a day to pay off the mortgage on his house, then sent four children to university. He still helps his youngest in Montreal, but would like to move toward retirement.
He said he can’t keep up the long days now that he’s 62, but he’s still out 10 to 12 hours a day.
Alhouri estimates that taxi drivers have lost about 60 percent of their business to Uber.
Things were painfully slow during the pandemic — so much so that he used his wife’s car to drive Uber Eats for a while.
We are completely dependent on the price of the plate and the rent. – Garish Berry, taxi driver
“It wasn’t easy for me to work on the delivery. I’m not young,” Alhouri said.
Now his wife is going back to work and that is not an option.
He said that in the winter people take more taxis, so this month the bills can be paid using his wife’s salary.
“Now everything has changed. Before [when] I would be 65 years old, I would rent the plate and with my pension [I’d be] OK. Nothing now. The plate [is worth] zero. No one is renting. I can’t find anyone to share with me.”
He said he understands why new drivers don’t enter the industry. Alhouri estimates he makes about $5 an hour these days, and business is still slow because federal employees work mostly from home.
Garish Berry — a taxi driver for nearly 40 years
Berry has been driving a taxi for nearly 40 years. He’s worried about driving another 20. (Sara Frizzell/CBC)
Berry began dropping out of university in 1983 when a friend suggested he could make decent money.
“It’s freedom, you know you can work as much as you want and you’ll never break even… But the hours, you had to put in a lot of hours to make money, that’s for sure,” Berry said.
He saved up and bought his license plate in 1991 for about $100,000.
The city required him to take a three-week taxi course at Algonquin College — the course includes customer service and dealing with disabled customers and costs $1,200. Uber drivers should never have taken it.
“I am already 61 years old, I have to work until I am 80 years old [old] because there’s no retirement,” Berry said. “We’re completely dependent on the plate price and the rent.”
Berry said he actually has a friend who is in his 80s who still drives cabs for this reason.
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