Ottawa Taxi Lawsuit: Make the Guilty Pay

People invested their lives in the regulated taxi industry. The regulations pre-existed their entry into the business. If they wanted to own or drive taxicabs, they had to obey the bylaws. There was no alternative. Unless they were Uber.

Re: Taxi industry's $215M lawsuit against city finally about to be heard

One of the very few positives that came out as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, was the way in which the political response opened the eyes of millions of Canadians. Political leaders across the country showed their cards. They revealed their true nature, and the nature of their “principles.” It wasn’t flattering. Only the most addled Junk News consumers remained blind to the politician's self-exposure as dishonest, cowardly hypocrites.

We saw how easy it was for most of them to shed their previously held “principles” in response to panicked political pressure.

The Uber phenomenon in Ottawa, across Ontario, and the world was a dress rehearsal for what happened in the wake of COVID-19. The COVID-19 response wiped small businesses off the map as giant corporations, like Amazon and Walmart, exempt from lockdowns, raked in obscene profits. This crime was not caused by the free market, it was caused by government-imposed lockdowns.

To this day, pundits in the Junk News media dishonestly blame the damage on a virus. People immune to gaslighting know the virus didn’t cause this damage. Politicians did.

Lockdowns are not the only item in the politician’s toolbox when it comes to tilting the playing field. Rare is the business or enterprise that does not intersect with the various levels of government.

Some Background

The first definition of “ridesharing” that comes up on Google is,

“Ridesharing is a service that arranges one-way transportation on short notice.”

Exactly. That’s what taxis do.

I started in the ridesharing business back in 1977, at the age of 23. It didn’t take long before I learned that the local government controlled the number of taxis operating in the city, by restricting the number of taxicab licenses. As a radical young libertarian at the time, my response was, “That’s wrong. In a free country, anyone should be allowed to enter the business, to sink or swim based on their own efforts.”

When I stated my opinion, other drivers would laugh. “Just try running your own cab without a city license. You’ll find out.” It just wasn’t allowed, and if you tried operating an unlicensed taxi in Hamilton, the government would come down on you like a ton of bricks.

I also learned that these taxi licenses could be bought and sold. They had market value as a result of entry restrictions, and the city's permission to trade them.

That was how it was in 1977. That was how it was for decades before I came into the business. And that is how it was for the next thirty-eight years.

People invested their lives in the ridesharing business in accordance with the regulatory structure installed by the government. Local restricted entry regulation established the skeleton around which many invested their lives.

Then, along came Uber. It claimed it was not in the taxi business. It said it was in the "ridesharing" business. Politicians pretended they saw a difference, just like people pretended to see the emperor's new clothes. It was a supreme exercise in gaslighting. And it worked.

In one fell swoop, the regulatory apple cart was tipped over, and thousands of lives were ruined. Not every politician understood the nature of the con, they're generally not that bright, but some certainly did. The mayor of Toronto certainly knew.

As with covid lockdowns, many small businesses were destroyed and replaced by a mega corporation. It was an example of wealth flowing upwards. Not as a result of better mousetraps, but the result of better political pull.

According to the CBC report,

“The city's initial statement of defence argued that it had no responsibility to protect the taxi industry from any financial losses that might have arisen from the regulatory changes.”

Perhaps not. But the city cannot argue that it did not know what kind of devastation its regulatory changes would cause. Nor can the city argue that it was unaware of the disparate impact their regulatory changes would have on, what had evolved into, an immigrant dominated industry. But that did not deter them for a millisecond.

Were the city’s regulatory changes legal? That’s for the court to decide. Were they morally, and utterly reprehensible? Of course they were. They were downright criminal.

Also, from the CBC report,

“What's more, buying and selling taxi plates "created a speculative and artificial secondary market" that the city had nothing to do with other than register the plate transfer, according to the statement.”

That is nothing but a sociopathic lie. Just as the devastation caused by lockdowns for covid was caused by political decisions, the “speculative and artificial secondary market,” was created by the city’s very own regulations. It didn’t just float up from a crack in the earth.

The same politicians who continually piss and moan about their devotion to the marginalized members of society, didn’t give a second thought to bulldozing the marginalized members of the taxi industry.

I hope the taxi industry's $215M lawsuit against the city of Ottawa is successful, but I don’t think Ottawa taxpayers should be on the hook for restitution. The first people to pay should be the politicians, and their hirelings, and the deep-pocketed predators who committed this massive crime, even if it leaves them in the same position as the dispossessed taxi license holders. In addition to restitution, all of those who played any key decision-making role in this abomination should be sentenced to a minimum of five years as a taxi or Uber driver. The Ottawa mayor’s term should be life.

That would be true justice.