UberX stealing cabbies' jobs say protesting taxi drivers
Montreal cabbies asking transport minister to outlaw UberX app-based car-sharing service once and for all
Nearly 100 taxi drivers lined up their cars in Pointe St-Charles on Thursday morning to kick off a protest against car-sharing services like UberX.
- UberX illegal, says Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre
- Uber Montreal requests to be regulated in Quebec
- Two Montreal UberX drivers fined and have cars impounded
They're asking Quebec Transport Minister Robert Poëti to apply the law and get rid of UberX once and for all.
"Business is down at least 25 per cent and it's illegal. People who are just using an iPhone are hurting us," Ashkan Gorji, a taxi driver of eight years, said of UberX.
UberX allows drivers not licensed to operate as cab drivers the ability to use their own car to pick up passengers.
Taxi drivers say this is unfair — both because UberX drivers present additional competition, as well as because taxi drivers are required to pay licensing fees UberX drivers are not.
Politicians have called UberX illegal, including Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre.
In December, Uber Montreal asked the provincial government to regulate it so that it could have clear operating guidelines in the province.
The protesting taxi drivers will visit Quebec Transport Minister Robert Poëti's office before continuing on to la Maison Radio-Canada.
