Toronto taxi, ride-hailing companies ask to be included in city's 'Buy Local' campaign

Three Toronto taxi companies and one ride-hailing service are urging council to include their industry in the city's newly adopted "Buy Local, Buy Canadian" campaign as U.S. tariff threats continue.

And they want council to ban the use of U.S. based ride-sourcing apps on city property or for city business.

Managers of Beck Taxi, Co-op Cabs, Toronto 1 Taxi and Canadian ride-hailing platform HOVR, all of whom signed a letter to council on Monday, say spending on local services encourages local economic development.

The managers say U.S. tech companies, including Uber, have taken over too many Canadian markets by using lobbying efforts to reshape municipal rules governing vehicles-for-hire.

"Canadian companies can easily step in to connect Torontonians with their next ride home," the letter says.

"Local companies will work with municipalities to support common-sense protecting public safety, promote affordability and foster a healthy, diverse industry — rather than trying to dismantle them."

On Feb. 5, council passed a motion to develop a comprehensive plan that would urge Toronto residents and businesses to support local companies in response to the tariffs threatened by the U.S. The "Buy Local, Buy Canadian" campaign is an attempt to protect Toronto jobs, according to the motion that passed.

The letter says many local taxi companies and HOVR offer app-based ride-hailing and payments. Beck, for example, has its own app that operates in a similar fashion to other ride-hailing companies. 

The letter also urges council to adopt "partnership, procurement and staff reimbursement" policies that prioritize local vehicle-for-hire companies, though it doesn't include examples of what those policies might look like.

Uber says drivers, delivery people are Canadians

In response to the letter, Uber Canada spokesperson Keerthana Rang said Uber drivers and delivery people are Canadians. Uber Canada is run by Canadians for Canadians, Rang said.

"There are 180,000 drivers and delivery people who earn money on Uber in this country. They live, they work, they spend in this country," Rang said.

There are also 500 staff in Canada who work on Uber's ride-hailing and delivery platform, Rang added.

But Kristine Hubbard, operations manager for Beck Taxi Limited, said in an interview on Monday the city needs to do more to support Toronto-based taxi companies.

"Every taxi you see is a small independent, licensed business in the city, in this country, and so, I do think if we're talking about supporting local Canadian businesses, small businesses in particular, this is the perfect opportunity," Hubbard said.

"Let's stop supporting these giant tech companies who are siphoning money out of our country."

Hubbard said it's difficult for drivers and delivery people who work for Uber and Lyft to earn a living based on the apps. She also said Uber is clogging up Toronto streets and taking money from the TTC.

"When you use the Uber app, you might pay $30, but the drivers are getting $12 and the rest is going out of our country."

City 'examining' vehicle-for-hire services

In a statement on Monday, Zeus Eden, spokesperson for the office of Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, said the city is "closely examining" vehicle-for-hire services and has sent a rideshare licensing plan back to staff for review. 

"We are reviewing options with the Mayor's Economic Action Team about how best to support workers and businesses in all sectors in response to Donald Trump's unjustified trade war." 

Eden said the mayor supports taking a "Team Canada approach" and encourages Toronto residents to consider buying Canadian in their daily purchases.

Thorben Wieditz, of RideFairTO, a non-profit organization that advocates for fair rules in the ride-hailing business in Toronto, said including the industry in the "Buy Local, Buy Canadian" campaign would be a step toward making the industry more fair.

"We support this letter. It would be an important intervention," he said.