GTAA supports taxi industry at Pearson

What will happen when all the taxis are gone? Opinion, March 14

The Greater Toronto Airports Authority, (GTAA), was disappointed by the recent opinion piece by Rita Smith, which was based on false information about the taxi and ride-share industry at Toronto Pearson and laden with innuendo about “secretive” deals and changes. The piece’s credibility crumbles when these errors are corrected. The original article and headline incorrectly stated that a new deal is being negotiated between the GTAA and Uber. It incorrectly stated that Transport Canada sold taxi permits decades ago for $100,000, although they are often resold privately. Smith also stated that there is a clause in the Conditions of Permit “indicating they are forbidden to talk about this, on pain of losing their permit through a new demerit point.” This claim is also incorrect. And negotiations were not “rushed into place,” as Smith asserted. What is correct is that the GTAA, a not-for-profit corporation, regularly consults passengers and partners in order to reach market-value agreements. These are and have always been private commercial agreements. In this case, we have been consulting with the taxi and limousine industry since last summer to modernize and update our conditions of permit for the first time in decades: since 1982 for limousines and 2000 for taxis. These updates were undertaken to ensure privacy of passenger data. After three rounds of revisions, during which we incorporated a significant amount of industry feedback, we issued the final conditions last month. The GTAA recognizes the taxi and limousine industry’s history and importance and continues to support it at Toronto Pearson.

Karen Mazurkewich, VP Stakeholder Relations and Communications, GTAA