NENSHI ‘INACCURATE’
Councillor says city did not hire criminals for Uber screening
Calgary city hall never sent convicted sex offenders or other violent convicts to test ride-share company Uber’s vetting of drivers, Coun. Diane Colley-Urquhart said Friday in an effort to clear the air over Mayor Naheed Nenshi’s impromptu comments.
That contradicts live-streamed statements made last week in Boston by Nenshi while he rode in a ride-hailing company’s car.
Colley-Urquhart said after exhaustive consultations this week with bylaw services and those regulating Calgary’s taxi industry, it’s clear no such policy was employed by the city.
“I feel very confident I have di- rect answers and they’re clear,” she said.
“With the information and feedback I received, I can unequivocally state that the mayor’s facts were inaccurate and that the City did not, and has not, and will not use people convicted of sex crimes and violent criminal offences to test Uber’s or any other transportation network ride-sharing company’s screening practises.”
Colley-Urquhart said she could also rule out any suggestion the city used the names of offenders to test Uber, or that it employed a third party, such as a private investigator to carry out such a scheme.
Nenshi said he was unaware of the video captured by a dashboard camera operated by the Lyft driver, in which the mayor also disparaged Uber staff and officials, calling its CEO Travis Kalanick “a dick.”
Afterwards, he claimed he’d “misspoken” when discussing testing Uber’s hiring practices.
Nenshi, who’s apologized to Kalanick and Uber for the tone of his comments, has said the city knows of at least one person with a criminal past making it through the company’s background checks.
Clearing the air was important so that the integrity of the city and its senior employees didn’t remain soiled, said Colley-Urquhart.
“I didn’t want the city of Calgary tarnished or this hanging out there,” she said.
“The longer this went on, people believed it must be true.”
But while the city councillor said she’s confident Nenshi’s remarks in Boston were inaccurate, she added “maybe he does have other facts.”
Nenshi’s office didn’t respond to the council member’s comments Friday, with a spokesman saying the mayor’s statement on the issue last weekend was sufficient.
Colley-Urquhart noted an investigation is being conducted by the city’s new integrity commissioner into the appropriateness of the mayor’s comments she said may have had the effect of impugning the reputations of city officials.
“That’ll go down its own road and be investigated in the fullness of time,” she said.
Coun. Ward Sutherland said he’s satisfied the matter of the city employing convicts has been laid to rest.
But he added he’s still disturbed by Nenshi’s conduct in Boston.
“It still baffles me why he would offer confidential strategies to a stranger, regardless of their accuracy,” he said, adding Nenshi failed to properly quell the issue once he’d returned to Calgary.
Uber has feuded with the city over regulations and quit operating in Calgary after insisting new laws facing it were too onerous.
The company didn’t respond Friday to a request for an interview.
With the information and feedback I received, I can unequivocally state that the mayor’s facts were inaccurate