Council defeats revised taxi bylaw

Miriam Ostermann
Times Associate Editor

 

Ensuing numerous complaints from the public late last year, council requested a revision of the taxi bylaw, and despite passing the first reading in early March, were left divided last week when a split vote defeated the regulation.
Under the Municipal Government Act, Section 8 provides councils the authority to pass a bylaw to regulate taxi services. Administration was directed to revisit the Taxi Bylaw resulting in research of other community’s taxi bylaws, meetings with local taxi companies, law enforcement, and underwent a Policy Review Committee review to ensure it would be suitable for Strathmore.
In the proposed bylaw, administration addressed certain issues including permanent decaling, regular vehicle inspections, smoking, the position of a chief license inspector, and wheelchair accessible vehicles.
“When this motion was first made to have a local taxi bylaw review it was for specific reasons that came about because a lot of our constituents were dissatisfied by some of the services either being provided or not being provided,” said Councillor Bob Sobol.
“To be clear, the focus of the changes being made have always been about improving the service that our local public transportation suppliers provide. It is my belief that this new bylaw [would’ve] increased the safety and comfort of our citizens as they utilize this form of public transportation.”
Yet that belief wasn’t met by everyone, including one of the taxi company owners who had previously voiced his indignation of the lack of protection from the town regarding local businesses, by allowing outside taxi companies to pick up and drop off clients in Strathmore.
Martin DePeuter, owner of Strathmore Taxi and Economy Taxi, had addressed council in a prior council meeting about his issue with permanent decaling that he said would interfere with his other contracts of transporting items – not individuals – to the city of Calgary. Furthermore, he argued the bylaw didn’t put both local taxi companies on an equal playing field regarding wheelchair accessible vehicles, where the bylaw states that for every eight vehicles the company must have one access vehicle. He also wanted both companies to offer debit and credit card payments for services, and have the town request proof of Workers Compensation or proof of insurance for drivers.
At the May 4 regular council meeting, administration presented the amended bylaw and defended their reasoning. In regards to payment options, the belief remained that form of payment should not be legislated by the town and that taxi owners display their rates and methods of payment – as holds true with other businesses. As it’s the responsibility and obligation of employers to ensure their company are complying with provincial laws and are participating in Worker’s Compensation for the safety of their employees, any non-compliance would fall under the jurisdiction of the Worker’s Compensation Board and not council’s.
Administration also explained the importance of permanently affixed decaling, for safety reasons allowing the public to identify a taxi company, and also for the purpose of identification where the chief license inspector can ensure that every vehicle meets the proper standards. Where the access vehicles were concerned, administration felt there was a need in the community and decided on one access vehicle per every eight regular taxis to provide these services. Administration further informed council that DePeuter had acquired a wheelchair accessible van and was charging patrons extra fees for loading and unloading the wheelchairs – an action deemed against human rights under the Charter of Rights Commission, administration said.
While administration addressed the four major concerns, some councillors remained uncertain about the bylaw’s implications.
“Taxi Bylaw 15-27 to the best of my understanding does nothing positive,” said Councillor Rocky Blokland. “It doesn’t achieve anything more than the original had. I suggest throwing this whole bylaw out. I would start over and get a proper bylaw started right from the ground up. A bylaw that’s made for Strathmore, not something we copied from Airdrie, Fort McMurray or anywhere else.”
Councillor Blokland added that the bylaw was not enforceable. However, the bylaw does mention violation tickets, authorization to a peace officer to issue voluntary payment tags to anyone who has contravened any provision of the bylaw, and outlines penalties.
Council also discussed the recently introduced volunteer driver program through the Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) which charges a fee to take residents to Calgary or Drumheller. Administration assured council when a fee is charged, the service must comply with all aspects of the bylaw. After rumours of the town starting up its own taxi service spread on social media, council was also told that the town was not considering such options.
With the absence of Councillor Brad Walls, who had excused himself from the meeting due to a possible conflict of interest, the motion for second reading to the amended bylaw received a vote of 3-3, defeating the motion.
Councillor Blokland, Councillor Fule, and Councillor Grajczyk opposed the motion.