Uber threatening to leave Quebec

Company bristles at province’s new rules on training drivers, a condition for extending pilot

MONTREAL— The ride-sharing company Uber says it will stop operating in Quebec unless the provincial government backs away from new training requirements sought as a condition for extending a yearlong pilot project.

Jean-Nicolas Guillemette, general manager for Uber Quebec, said Tuesday in Montreal that new rules obliging drivers to complete 35 hours of training before they take to the streets were too onerous for the “vast majority” of the company’s drivers, who work part time, and would break the company’s business model.

The threat prompted a mix of reactions, from politicians eager to see the company leave, to local business leaders worried about scaring away other technology or innovation enterprises.

Guillemette said a September 2016 deal between Uber and the province of Quebec to conduct a pilot project already sets out rules that are “the most severe in North America.” That pilot project expires Oct. 14. “We have the responsibility to respect the regulations that are in place. What we are saying today is that we want to continue respecting them, but if by respect them it shuts us down, we cannot continue to operate,” Guillemette said, adding that he was hopeful a solution could be reached before the deadline.

Mathieu Gaudreault, a spokesperson for Quebec Transport Minister Laurent Lessard, said the government had not been advised of any decision by the company to cease operations.

Uber met with provincial government officials earlier this month, but Guillemette said there has never been an “indepth discussion” about a more stringent training regime. He said company officials sought additional details about the new requirements Monday night but did not receive any information.

Uber drivers who are currently required to go through 20 hours of training would have to submit to an additional 15 hours over an eight-week period. This would bring company drivers into line with other taxi drivers in Quebec. The other change proposed by the province is to have local police forces conduct criminal background checks on drivers rather than leaving it up to Uber, which used the services of a private company.

In announcing the new requirements last Friday, Lessard said: “They see it as a barrier to entry into the industry, whereas we think they are the basic conditions to ensure that there is security for someone who wants to transport people who are not members of their family.”

Guillemette said the government would never think of forcing property owners to attend hotel and tourism training before joining the apartment-sharing service Airbnb, which he said had more in com- mon with Uber than a traditional taxi company.

“This is an attempt to impose old rules on a technological model that is completely new,” he said.

There may still be some wiggle room for an agreement.

Lessard’s spokesperson, Gaudreault, said the province is willing to discuss flexible methods for delivering the training, but will not budge on the substance.

“We’re very open to it being training via the internet, or 35 hours of training by video, or some other way,” he said.

Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, co-leader of the left-wing provincial sovereigntist party Québec Solidaire, said he wasn’t surprised by Uber’s reaction to the proposed regulations.

“It’s nothing but blackmail. If Uber wants to leave Quebec, our reaction will be, ‘Good riddance,’ ” he said in Quebec City.