B.C. Green party leader Andrew Weaver plans to table a bill in the legislature today with the hope of sparking more public dialogue about the rules needed to make ridesharing work in British Columbia.
The Green party is calling for a clear public timeline for introducing ridesharing — companies like Uber and Lyft — to B.C.
The party said the process needs to involve much consultation with municipal governments, the B.C. Taxi Association, and individual British Columbians across the province.
“Provinces and cities across Canada and throughout North America have been using ridesharing technology for years,” Weaver said in a press release.
“Yet British Columbians have only heard mixed things from this government,” said Weaver, the MLA for Oak Bay-Gordon Head.
If allowed in B.C., ridesharing would have to meet the same regulations — criminal record checks, inspections, licence and insurance checks — as taxis, according to an online Ipsos Reid poll of 800 people in early April.
So far, ridesharing companies are not permitted in B.C. but nonetheless continue to try.
Uber Canada was scheduled to host “a driver partner info session” on April 12 at the Hotel Grand Pacific.
Peter Fassbender, the provincial minister overseeing TransLink, began talking with stakeholders in late January about the impact of such services in the context of a larger review of taxi licensing. The B.C. government has promised a “made in B.C. solution” but said it won’t make any decisions on allowing a ride-share service such as Uber and Lyft until it has finished that review. It has not provided a timeline for the end of that review.
Mohan Kang, president of the Victoria-based B.C. Taxi Association, claimed that Uber is trying to put pressure on the government by hosting such meetings.
Uber maintains that B.C. is the largest jurisdiction in North America without ride-sharing, although more than 100,000 British Columbians have signed up and downloaded the Uber app.
The Vancouver Sun and The Province have reported that taxi licences on the Lower Mainland that used to sell for almost $1 million now have little value because of the uncertainty Uber has created in the marketplace.
In recent weeks, Uber launched radio ads and a letter-writing campaign on the Lower Mainland, noting long taxi waits and detailing how B.C. cities are falling behind other big cities in North America and to pressure the province into allowing the ride-sharing service to operate in B.C.
The company has also added a “future view” feature to its Uber app, simulating how cars with wait times of five minutes or less would respond to requests in Vancouver, Victoria and Kelowna.
Kang said his association’s main concern with Uber is one of public safety.
“There’s no way they can address the public safety,” he said. “What they’re doing is anybody who is Class 5 [driver’s licence], 21 years old, has a car which is 10 years old or newer, four-door and who has regular insurance is an Uber driver,” Kang said, in early April.
Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps told the Times Colonist she’s fine with Uber setting up shop if the province approves it.
“I know that Minister Fassbender is doing all of the engagement that I would be doing if I was in his shoes,” Helps said.
The B.C. Green party said Monday in a press release that when the cabinet minister responsible for developing regulations for ridesharing services calls these emerging companies ‘pushy,’ “it isn’t setting the right tone.”
The party said it will launch a public survey on its website today to solicit the opinions of British Columbians on ridesharing. Results will be published later this spring.
“I think it’'s time the conversation was more transparent and engaged actual British Columbians about what they want to see happen with these innovative new services,” said Weaver.
Earlier this year, 22 CEOs and founders from Vancouver’s tech industry wrote an open letter to the B.C. government, warning of the chilling impact felt by entrepreneurs when they believe their innovations can be blocked by outdated regulations.
Deputy leader Matt Toner will wil be joined by others in the tech industry when he comments on the bill at East Side Games on Hastings Street in Vancouver at 10:00 a.m. this morning.
- with files from Bill Cleverley
