Uber campaign targets premier

VICTORIA — The B.C. government is shrugging aside a new marketing campaign by ride-hailing company Uber, saying it won’t be pressured into allowing the service to operate in the province until it has finished a larger review of taxi licensing.

TransLink Minister Peter Fassbender said he wasn’t surprised to see Uber launch radio ads and a letter-writing campaign Wednesday targeting Premier Christy Clark.

The Uber ads discuss long waiting times for traditional taxis in places like Surrey, and detail how B.C. is falling behind Seattle, Toronto and other major cities in allowing the service.

In one ad, a fictional woman describes how she missed her daughter’s doctor appointment because her taxi never arrived.

The company also added a “future view” feature to its Uber app, simulating how virtual cars with waiting times of five minutes or less would respond to requests in Vancouver, Victoria and Kelowna.

But the campaign failed to sway Fassbender.

“I’ve been clear with them that the province is going to take a very deliberate and thoughtful approach to this, and we are not going to be pressured into doing something quickly without ensuring we have adequate input from a variety of sources, including the tax industry, local governments (and) the business community,” Fassbender said.

Uber Canada general manager Ian Black released a public letter to Clark, saying the approval of Uber in B.C. would empower people to earn extra income, reduce drunk driving, combat congestion and expand the reach of the transit network.