Taxi companies fight bylaw at city council

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This article was published 07/02/2022 (1685 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Local taxi companies hailed a ride to Brandon City Council Monday to advocate for “unfair” portions of the bylaw governing them to be rewritten.

As explained by Derek Cullen, a lawyer with Meighan Haddad making a presentation on behalf of ABC Taxi, taxi companies in Brandon are forced to retire vehicles once they hit 10 years old.

This, he said, forces companies to get rid of safe, working vehicles in favour of new ones despite the fact that the old ones are frequently able to pass twice-yearly safety inspections required by the city, as well as other inspections that can be ordered by city officials such as bylaw enforcement officers.

“The 10 years is probably historically based — I speculate a little bit — on the assumption that a 10-year-old vehicle is no longer safe,” said Cullen, who also represents 4-Way Taxi, Brandon Sunset Taxi and other local charter businesses.

“Of interest, the average vehicle in Canada is around 10 years old. In the United States, it’s 12 years old. I phoned the city garage, by the way; some city buses running every day carrying 20 to 40 passengers are well in excess of 10 years old.”

Getting into the legal details of the bylaw itself, Cullen pointed out that it’s clearly outdated since it refers to drawing its legal authority from the Highway Traffic Act, which had its sections dealing with taxis repealed years ago in favour of the new Local Vehicles For Hire Act passed in 2018.

That new act allows the city to set standards for taxi operations, but Cullen argued the age of taxi vehicles is an outdated one.

“It’s analogous to beauty pageant standards in what should be a skills competition,” he said. “Believe me, a 10- or 12-year-old Toyota Prius is no beauty, but if a contestant passes the physical test, she should still be able to compete.”

Cullen and his clients’ proposal, which the lawyer said was developed by comparing the regulations between Brandon and cities like Kenora, Ont. and Regina, is that if you register a vehicle as a taxi before it is 10 years old, it should be allowed to stay on the road provided regular safety inspections are maintained up to a maximum age of 15 years.

“We’re not saying that you should be able to show up at the counter at city hall and register a 13-year-old vehicle,” he said. “But if you’ve already got one registered and it’s in the regime, you should be able to continue.”

The current practice for the industry, he said, is for taxi operators to buy three- to four-year-old vehicles at low kilometres, with the process of certifying and inspecting the vehicles being an expensive one. If an operator then has to retire the vehicle while it still has more to give, it is financially onerous.

While Cullen acknowledged the process through which bylaws have to be amended, he said it’s his understanding that many taxis in Brandon will be effectively legislated off the road by the end of the month and suggested the 10-year limit be temporarily suspended while changes are considered.

After Cullen’s presentation, Coun. Glen Parker (Riverview) asked him if his clients had considered requesting a program where the number of annual inspections increases with the age of a vehicle or the mileage it incurs. Cullen argued it wouldn’t change the major issue of the age threshold and mileage isn’t always an indicator of reliability.

Coun. Shaun Cameron (University) said the only city with a comparable 10-year limit for taxis is Saskatoon and asked how many cars would be affected if no changes are made. Cullen estimated that one-sixth of taxis in the city are reaching their age limits every year.

After Cameron’s remarks, Coun. Kris Desjarlais (Rosser) said he found that Timmins, Ont., had recently moved its upper limit for the age of taxis from five to seven years, and London, Ont., is slowly decreasing its age limit down to 10 years old.

“The reason why cities and municipalities are doing that is emissions standards,” Desjarlais said. “I think what we’re trying to say, Derek, is that the longer a vehicle’s on the road, the worse it is for the environment.”

In response, Cullen said it was better to run a car for 15 years instead of throwing them in the junkyard every five since they all have to meet the same Manitoba emissions standards. He also argued a car that isn’t economical for an operator to run is going to be pulled off the road anyway.

Asked by Coun. Jeff Fawcett (Assiniboine) if his clients had gone to the city’s taxi bylaw committee with their issues, Cullen said not yet but that anecdotally some drivers from his clients’ companies had made complaints.

Coun. Bruce Luebke (South Centre) guessed the change in what act governs taxi usage was made because of ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft and stated, if the city was going to revise the bylaw, it should review all of it and not just segments of it.

Given that, Luebke asked Cullen what the local taxi industry thinks of the potential inclusion of ridesharing companies in the city.

According to Cullen, that’s a topic the city will have to address eventually as Uber already authorizes its drivers in Winnipeg to drive people to Brandon, albeit at a fee approaching $200 for up to four people.

“It’s real, it’s going to be in the city’s face any day, and I think it would be better for the city to deal with it proactively rather than reactively.”

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