When no one on Council put a “Hold” on a unanimous recommendation from the City’s Licensing and Standards Committee to reinstate the exemption, it passed automatically first thing in the morning before the protestors even made their way to City Hall.

 

This means that airport permitted cabs and limousines can continue as they have for 30 years picking up fares in Toronto without having to obtain a license or obey any of the City's stringent and costly licensing requirements.

 

Toronto’s taxi and livery industries pay an estimated $7.5 million a year in fees to the City for the right to operate here. They must undergo mechanical fitness inspections twice a year conducted by City employed mechanics and must observe strict age of vehicle limits on all cabs and livery vehicles.

 

Toronto cab drivers must take a three week long basic cab driver training course, including an approved C.P.R. course, plus go through a three day refresher course, now once every four years. Ambassador drivers must go through a three month long school and must be single owner operators, among other restrictions and requirements.

 

By contrast, Greater Toronto Airports Authority cabs and limos must have valid municipal licenses, as do their drivers, but none of those other licensing requirements are anywhere near as strict as Toronto’s.

 

Two of these GTAA permits are for vehicles licensed as far away as Fenelon Falls.

 

In fact, in neighbouring Mississauga, special classes of license were created to serve only the airport’s arriving passengers and fares returning to the airport. These special licenses are not allowed to pick up fares in Mississauga unless they are prearranged.

 

Airport vehicles pay the GTAA, which operates Lester B. Pearson International Airport, about $6,000 a year each in concession fees for the exclusive right to pick up at PIA.

 

Because of the exemption, they are free to ignore Toronto’s licensing requirements and pick up fares on a supposedly “prearranged” basis in the City, thereby not having to go back to the airport empty after delivering a fare in the City.

 

As well, it is long observed practice among many of the out-of-towners to pay hotel concierges and doormen bribes, tips or so called “cookies”, to corner the market on lucrative airport runs that would otherwise go to Toronto operators. Toronto’s cab drivers have complained for decades they can sit for hours waiting at a hotel stand watching airport cabs and limos pick up fare after fare going to the airport, and then only get a short run the airport vehicles won’t take.

 

Toronto’s cab and limousine people thought they had the problem beaten earlier this year when the exemption was taken from the Ontario Municipal Act, only to discover that it had been enacted into Toronto’ licensing by-laws as well.

 

In May of this year, Toronto City Council removed the exemption from its by -laws, but also put a moratorium on enforcing the law until further discussions had taken place with neighbouring municipalities, the GTAA and the province.

 

Soon after, two airport operator groups started legal challenges to quash Toronto’s move to eliminate the exemption. When Toronto's legal department looked at the airport cases, they concluded that the City’s actions might well be on shaky legal ground.

 

In a still confidential report (making the exact reasons for the opinion unknown) the City’s lawyers recommended the exemption by-law be put back into Toronto’s legal code.

 

Both court challenges to May’s by-law are scheduled to be heard November 21st but it is thought that once the exemption is restored in the Toronto Municipal Code, those court challenges will be dropped.

 

However, Councillor Moscoe has publicly stated that the City has further plans to deal with the situation, but does not want to tip his hand on what those plans are at this point.

 

In another interesting development, a similar case in Edmonton, Alberta, was decided this month in favor of that City’s right to bar airport vehicles from picking up in that City without Edmonton licenses.

 

Further complicating things for Toronto, it recently enacted a by-law that effectively allows virtually unlimited new licenses to limousine operators who fill basic requirement for numbers of stretch vehicles. This could open the door for GTAA permitted vehicles to quickly get a Toronto license if they so choose, and continue operating.

 

Toronto’s limo and livery cab operators, however, are already complaining that there are too many Toronto licensed vehicles on the road and the excess competition is driving company and driver incomes down sharply.

 

It was the clearly stated hope of the demonstrators and a substantial majority of Toronto operators that the City would stand by its decision to remove the exemption and launch a vigorous campaign of enforcement against the out-of-town operators. With council’s latest decision, that hope is once again dashed.

 

One police officer on scene at City Hall estimated there were as many as 1,000 taxis involved in the September 26th procession to City Hall. Other estimates ranged as high as 1,500.

 

One demonstration organizer, Andy Reti, said about 1000 cabs started at the C.N.E. but more joined the procession along the way.

 

He estimated final participation at from 1200 to 1500 cabs.

 

Reti said afterwards, “I am so happy at what happened today.”

 

As planned, the protesters met at a C.N.E. parking lot and moved to City Hall in a slow, noisy procession.

 

At police request they changed the route of the procession moving up York/Bay, west to University and on to Dundas, then circling City Hall.

 

There were no incidents of any real concern to police or organizers, except for a couple of drivers who parked their cars and walked away so they blocked both lanes southbound on Bay Street. They were ticketed by police.

 

When asked if the cabs would be tagged and towed, the constable said, smiling, “How do I get a tow truck here?”

 

A relatively small group of cab drivers, about 40 of them, moved into Council Chambers and some shouting at councillors started when they learned the exemption had already been dealt with.

 

Rather than listen to or speak with the protesters, City Council promptly broke for lunch. One councillor who did take time to speak with the protestors was rookie Councillor Adam Vaughn, who listened to their complaints, and said he sympathized with their frustrations and concern.

 

He agreed Council has mismanaged taxi issues over the years. However, Vaughn also cautioned cab drivers that they win no friends on Council by continuously hurling abuse at them.

 

He said cab drivers never seem satisfied and for council, “There is no up side (to dealing with taxi issues).”

 

Sajid Mughal, past chair of the now disbanded Taxicab Advisory Committee, was puzzled at why council dealt with the issue without debate.

 

“They should not have dealt with it first thing this morning. They knew there was going to be a demonstration,” he said, recognizing that it would be impossible to get a 2/3 majority of council to vote to reopen the question.

 

“It looks like they were caught in this legal thing,” he said. “I don’t know why they didn’t deal with this when they drafted the (original) motion.”

 

Asked what the next step is, Reti commented that he and his friends Hillel Gudes and Gerry Manley, who have spearheaded this effort to abolish the exemption for at least 15 years, are now taking a rest.

 

Manley officially stepped away from further efforts a couple of weeks ago, Reti said. Reti and Gudes are now also going to step aside and let others take up the fight.

 

Reti commented on the massive driver participation this day, “I am more than pleased with their involvement and it’s a new beginning.”

 

On the other hand, one driver representative, Jamshid Bagharsadah, speaking to about 100 protesting drivers in front of City Hall threatened the next step would be to call for a city-wide taxi strike and to, “Close down the airport.” The enthusiastic group chanted back, “We want Justice!”

 

Another activist driver, Ahmet Gulkan, told the protesters that getting airport fares now, in what he called a “shrinking economy” may well be a matter of “survival” for many Toronto cab drivers.

 

He told the demonstrators that many are on the verge of bankruptcy, largely because Toronto issued too many cab licenses for available business.

 

Contrary to some reports, Toronto’s cab drivers repeatedly said they do not want to pick up fares at PIA. They do not want a reciprocal agreement struck on their behalf.

 

One unidentified driver spoke for many, if not most, when he said, “We don’t want to pick up at the airport. We want only what is ours. Toronto.”