By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
The owner of a local taxicab company appeared before Cobourg council’s Community Services, Protection and Economic Development committee this week to argue that the new Vehicle For Hire bylaw establishes a playing field that favours big ride-share corporations over local small businesses.
Doug Blundell owns Ganaraska Taxi, which is licensed in both Cobourg and Port Hope. He attended the committee meeting with a representative from Cobourg Taxi.
There are three locally owned cab companies, he said – one in Port Hope and two in Cobourg
“We have to follow all your rules – we have done so. Every single rule. We don’t violate the bylaws. The company that was here, that violated the bylaws, were summarily kicked out of town. Its license was removed,” Blundell began.
“I started this company four years ago with my mother out of necessity in Port Hope, because the taxi in Port Hope had closed down. I tried to petition Uber or Lyft to come into the area and was told their analytics don’t support services in this area because there was not enough rides.
“You are now bringing in a company from Peterborough through back-door channels that has changed the rules here in Cobourg – I guess, changed the rules in Port Hope as well – so that the whole area from Peterborough to Belleville, Port Hope, is under one license, whereas now I am paying for two licenses, two business licenses.
“Their driver will have a fraction of the insurance cost that I currently have. I am at $1,800 a month for insurance on each vehicle. I have two vehicles. Those drivers will be paying roughly $2- to $300, as I understand it, a month for insurance, and those drivers are part-time drivers. This is my livelihood. This is my business,” Blundell pointed out.
“I have had businesses before that I have sold. There will be nothing left here to sell when ride-share comes in at a fraction of the cost.
“I don’t mind operating on a level playing field. Kelly (from Cobourg Taxi) is my direct competition. She works in Port Hope and she works here in Cobourg, but she works under the same rules that I work under. You are bringing in a company that will kill our businesses. We will no longer be there.”
He objected to the provision (as he understood it) that ride-share vehicles can be flagged down on the spot, just as a taxi can, though Mayor Lucas Cleveland later clarified that this is not the case.
“I want to know why we are being forced out,” Blundell continued.
“We are locally owned companies paying taxes in this town, being forced out for a corporation based out of Peterborough – not even Uber or Lyft.”
Mayor Lucas Cleveland accused him of not speaking the truth. For example, he said that there was no agreement with Y Drive of Peterborough, which Blundell had mentioned. Blundell said he’d heard this particular company had been mentioned at a meeting which his Cobourg counterpart. Though he had been invited but could not attend, he said, he understood a representative of the Peterborough company had been in attendance.
The mayor also challenged his assertions about insurance, but Blundell insisted that there is a difference between privately owned taxi companies and ride-share corporations. In the latter business model, he said, the company holds the insurance, and individual contractors pay a fee to be included in the coverage.
“We don’t have that luxury. I am not a corporation with millions of dollars. I pay per vehicle for my insurance rates. That is where we are different. With their insurance, the drivers pay to the company for the right to operate off their insurance policy.
“Why do you believe offering customers a choice will negatively impact your business?” Cleveland challenged.
“I am talking about the fact that those drivers will be operating at a fraction of the cost I am operating at,” Blundell reiterated.
“They will not operating with the same costs, with the same bylaws that I need to conform to.
“Striping,” he said, seizing on one aspect.
“How much do you think striping the cars is going to cost? Y Rides don’t have to have striped packages on their vehicles. That’s just one.”
“When I was first running for this position, this was probably the number-two request I heard from our community that would make their lives better, which is more transportation options, and that’s not just ride-share,” Cleveland insisted. These include adding a fixed-route bus in addition to their on-demand service and offering more regional options within the county.
“The reality is that this was not done for a single company. Our staff have consulted with several companies across the ride-share platform to make sure we understand the needs of all the ride-share companies. We have provided ample opportunity for our local companies to participate in that discussion,” he said, referring to the meeting Blundell missed.
The intention was not just to bring in ride-share options but to allow cabs to operate differently – both with what he called free-hailing capabilities but also more like ride-share services that typically rely on apps.
The mayor described his small retail food business that competes against “nine large multi-national chains” in Cobourg.
“I wish there was a type of level playing field in our community for grocery stores like the one that’s being put forth in this bylaw,” he said.
“The reality is that this bylaw is being circulated throughout this province and this country as an example of the kind of bylaw that does create a level playing field,” he said.
“I understand change is dangerous. I understand change can be scary. But this is not meant in any way, shape or form to hurt our local businesses. In fact, I would go so far as to say we are one of the few municipalities in the country that have gone to such great lengths to ensure that our local businesses have the opportunity that they deserve to have, and that they will be able to run their businesses the way they want to run them.
“Moreover, this bylaw actually puts the operations of their business back into the hands of these small entrepreneurs. We will no longer as a municipality set your rates. We will no longer as a municipality tell you how to run your business, and will create a freedom for you to compete in an open market.
“This is what I fundamentally believe in as a free-market individual. I don’t engage with concerns, I don’t dismiss them. But at the end of the day, our job as as council is to provide the best-quality service for our customers. It’s not our job to provide the best economic opportunities to small businesses in our community – that’s part of our job, and we are doing that through this by law. We are protecting them. This was not done back-doors for companies to take over our market. That would be illegal for this government. We have specific rules and regulations regarding this and, again, this is the first bylaw in over 200 years as far as I can tell that will be adopted by four lower-tier municipalities potentially.”
Cleveland termed it “incredible” that four Northumberland municipalities worked together to create this opportunity.
At this point, Blundell left the council session.
Municipal Clerk Brent Larmer then described the process of getting input – from members of the public as well as members of the industry – that will proceed between now and the April 24 regular council meeting at which this bylaw will be voted on.
To learn more, visit EngageCobourg.ca, where the survey is up until April 18.
