City to set up late-night taxi zones after bylaw fracas outside pub
The City of Regina announced it will install late-night taxi zones along Victoria Avenue and Scarth Street after an incident between a bylaw enforcement officer and staff at O’Hanlon’s Irish Pub on Wednesday night.
According to a Facebook post by Andrew Shanks, general manager at O’Hanlon’s, a taxi that was stopped in front of O’Hanlon’s to pick up a customer was asked to move from the entrance by parking enforcement because it was in a no parking zone.
“Cabbie raced off because he didn’t want a ticket. Patrons had no cab/safe ride to get into to go home,” read the post.
Jay Gwilliam, general manager of O’Hanlon’s said he’s upset that taxis are being “shooed away” from bars that are trying to ensure their patrons have a safe ride home.
“We just want to see people get a safe ride home and it seems insane to us that a cab cannot stop and pick people up in front of a bar,” said Gwilliam.
The statement from the city emphasized the need to respect city employees at all times, after a video on Facebook showed Gwilliam and Shanks raising their voices at and getting quite close to the parking enforcement officer during the incident.
Shanks, who shot the video, said emotions got a little tense and maybe the situation could have been approached more graciously, but that he felt strongly about standing up for what he believes in.
He said he went outside and started the video after someone informed him a cab had been approached by a parking enforcement officer. He asked the officer why he was talking to the cab and the officer allegedly told him he was enforcing a bylaw, but couldn’t tell Shanks which one.
“We’ve just also kind hit the point where enough’s enough, it’s 11:30 at night, why is this necessary?” said Shanks. He said a similar situation occurred just last week.
Shanks said he was especially frustrated that night because the pub had just screened a documentary to raise awareness about drinking and driving. He said the bar raised more than $430 for Mothers Against Drunk Driving and partnered with Regina Cabs to offer free rides home.
“I don’t know which cab it was, but certainly our fellows have run into the same situation that they get shooed away from outside of establishments like that,” said Sandy Archibald, a manager at Regina Cabs.
She said it’s frustrating for everyone involved and that the downtown core needs work to make it more accessible for taxis without impeding traffic.
“The parking enforcement people are there to do a job. I understand that,” said Archibald, but she stressed that taxis operating at non-peak hours, like in this situation, are not getting in the way.
Daljit Singh, president of Co-op Taxi, said he’d like to see more taxi stands around the city, especially outside Cornwall Centre, and on 11th Avenue and Saskatchewan Drive. He said he is often asked to move his cab when he’s waiting for a customer and it’s not good for business.
“Sometimes we have to call them to come to the alley. This is not good customer service,” said Singh.
Several other bars including Leopold’s Tavern, The Lobby and Crave reported no issues with taxis picking up customers late at night.
“We just want to work with whoever it takes to get this issue resolved,” said Shanks. “It’s not about fighting with anybody or trying to cause a stink ... it’s just literally, we care about our patrons we care about the well-being and the safety of anybody downtown.”
The City of Regina declined to make further comment.