Taxi industry representative issued threat, mayor claims
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/10/2017 (2353 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
During a tense exchange at city hall with representatives of the taxi industry Wednesday, Mayor Brian Bowman said he was “threatened” on the weekend by a lobbyist for the taxi industry.
The heated scene played out when four taxi industry representatives appeared before Bowman’s executive policy committee.
“Certainly one member of your delegation certainly threatened me, on this weekend, on Saturday,” Bowman told Jaspal Bedi, an owner and driver with Duffy’s Taxi. “I didn’t appreciate it.”
Bowman didn’t elaborate on the threat during the meeting but later told reporters the threat had come from Ajay Chopra, part of the lobbyist firm representing Duffy’s and UniCity taxi companies.
Bowman said he had been at the local Indian community Diwali celebration Saturday night when he was approached by Chopra, who asked him to pose for a photo.
“I was pleased to join him for a picture but there were comments he whispered to me afterwards which I perceived as a threat,” Bowman said. “To be fair, it’s unclear to me whether or not it was a physical or just a political threat but certainly unwelcomed.”
Bowman refused to say what Chopra had told him.
Bowman said he didn’t contact police because he was uncertain if Chopra had threatened him with physical harm however, Bowman said, he thought it was worth raising the incident with the taxi delegation during the EPC meeting.
Bowman said he wasn’t expecting to see Chopra — who had not previously registered to appear as a delegate — at the meeting.
“I really wanted to let (Bedi) and others know that for me and members of council, on such a heated, important debate for people that threats are something we don’t want to see (directed) to any member of council,” Bowman said.
The exchange between Bowman and Bedi occurred while dozens of taxi drivers and owners watched the proceedings from the council chamber gallery.
The administration is preparing a bylaw and regulations to govern the taxi industry, ahead of the Feb. 1 transfer of regulatory power from the Manitoba Taxicab Board to city hall.
Bedi was one of four taxi industry representatives — lobbyists Scott McFadyen and Chopra, and UniCity’s Tarlochan Gill were the others— who appeared before EPC.
Chopra admitted to interrupting Bowman at the Diwali celebration but denied he had threatened him, adding he believed he had had a friendly exchange with Bowman.
“The mayor’s interpretation is perplexing to me and we were surrounded by friendly festival-goers,” Chopra said in an email statement.
“We spoke briefly and I asked him what the city’s plans for ridesharing and Uber were. He made his comments in favour of new ride sharing potential. I mentioned that I will work as hard and as effectively as possible for the community and for the taxi drivers to ensure fairness, equity, and safety. I took a few photos with him also. My interpretation was that it was a friendly moment and I left optimistic for good dialogue.”
Earlier, Bedi had accused Bowman of refusing to meet with the taxi industry to discuss how the city planned to regulate the industry. Bedi also accused Bowman of striking a “backroom deal” with Premier Brian Pallister on introducing ride-hailing services to compete with the traditional taxi firms.
Bowman denied any secret deal had been struck with Pallister.
Bedi and Gill said the local taxi industry has been left in the dark while city hall puts in place a new regulatory scheme, adding they want their concerns heard before the new rules are implemented.
McFadyen told reporters that the taxi industry believes that ride-hailing drivers should be subject to the same rules as faced by taxi drivers, including the requirement for a criminal background check and training, and the need to equip their vehicles with safety shields and emergency buttons.
“We just want fairness,” McFadyen said.
In the afternoon, Bowman and his EPC members unanimously voted to direct the administration to create a stakeholder working group to work with the administration on the proposed regulatory bylaw.
aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca
History
Updated on Wednesday, October 18, 2017 7:03 PM CDT: Writethrough