Green leader reignites Uber issue
Weaver taking a third crack at legislation
B.C. Green party Leader Andrew Weaver plans to push the NDP government toward enabling ridehailing services, such as Uber and Lyft, reigniting a contentious issue for a government that made huge political gains in the last election by appearing to back the traditional taxi industry.
Weaver said Monday he’ll table enabling legislation this fall to make sure ride-sharing happens. It would be the third time he’s introduced such a bill.
“Frankly, if it’s not pushed, it’s not necessarily a priority,” Weaver said.
The issue is fraught with risks for the New Democrat administration of Premier John Horgan.
On the one side, ride-sharing is being backed by the Greens, whom the NDP must rely upon for the votes necessary to keep governing through its ongoing power-sharing agreement. Without the support of the three Green MLAs, the 41-seat NDP government would be at risk of being toppled by the 43-seat Liberal opposition.
But on the other side, the NDP picked up three seats in Surrey on May 9, and defeated the Liberal cabinet minister in charge of the previous government’s plan to embrace the ride-hailing services, in part on a promise that New Democrats would craft a better deal to protect the taxi industry and its thousands of drivers.
There’s been no sign in the NDP’s first 30 days of power about what kind of plan it’s developing on allowing new ride-hailing services, and Weaver’s announcement abruptly sets a ticking clock on the issue.
While not a government initiative, Weaver said he’s talked to Horgan about the bill and informed the premier of his plan. He characterized the premier as “supportive” of the idea.
Horgan did commit Transportation Minister Claire Trevena to “(work) with the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General (Mike Farnworth) to create a fair approach to ride-sharing,” in his mandate letter to her, but Weaver said he wants to speed that measure along.
Trevena wasn’t made available for an interview Monday, but did issue a written statement that said her ministry “is well aware of the urgent need to overhaul B.C.’s regulations fort axis and passenger directed vehicles .”
She wrote that she’ll work with Weaver and a range of interest groups to “develop a made-in-B.C. plan that protects jobs that currently exist while ensuring British Columbians have access to the modern ride-sharing services they expect.”
Speaking at a Vancouver community centre Monday, Weaver said all three of B.C.’s leading political parties acknowledged in the last election the need to legalize so-called ride-sharing on a level playing field, with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
“Embracing ride-sharing and hoping it doesn’t come about and embracing ride-sharing and ensuring it happens rapidly are two different things,” Weaver said.
Legalizing sometimes-controversial ride-sharing, or ridehailing, services was a key Green party campaign pledge as a step toward embracing the innovation economy.
Weaver noted that seven years after Uber tried to open in Vancouver, the city remains the largest in North America without ridesharing.
In a regulatory vacuum, Weaver said, “pop-up” entities such as a service called Raccoon Go, which operates through the WeChat messaging platform, have started offering similar unregulated services.
“We cannot pretend to be innovative in the new economy if Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna and British Columbians are unwilling to embrace the technological innovations (already out there),” Weaver said.
The previous Liberal government proposed a plan that would have allowed the ride-hailing companies to operate in the province, but relaxed licensing rules for taxi drivers, eliminated geographic boundaries for taxi companies and gave the existing industry cash to develop its own technological alternative to the apps from Uber and other new players. The taxi industry was outraged, saying drivers who’d invested in some cases hundreds of thousands of dollars in limited taxi licences would see the value of their investments evaporate.
Weaver said new provisions in the bill he plans to introduce include direction to the ICBC to come up with a new insurance category for ride-hailing. He echoed the Liberal call to allow existing taxi firms to maintain a monopoly on customers who hail a ride on the street.
Ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft typically refer to themselves as technology companies that link passengers looking for rides with drivers willing to take them through an app-based communication platform that handles booking and payment on both sides.
On Monday, Uber Canada spokeswoman Susie Heath said the company is “pleased to see positive action from the B.C. Green party today that will benefit British Columbians, and we encourage all parties to follow through on their election commitments to work together and make ride-sharing a reality in 2017.”
Vancouver Taxi Association spokeswoman Carolyn Bauer couldn’t be reached for comment Monday.