Adam Olsen’s question to Transportation and Infrastructure Minister, Claire Trevena regarding the exclusion of ride sharing companies in the latest round of consultations with the taxi industry.
[Transcript]
Olsen:Last week, my colleague asked the Minister of Transportation why we’re updating legislation for the taxi industry without engaging ride-sharing companies. What we are deeply concerned about is a two-stage process, where a new taxi-only status quo is created before considering ride-sharing at some later date. What we need is a parallel process that considers both simultaneously.
In response to our question, the Minister of Transportation suggested that the government is in fact engaging with ride-sharing companies. However, the government’s terms of reference for the modernizing of passenger-directed vehicle services has a list of 19 different stakeholder groups that are to be consulted, and ride-sharing companies are not among them.
To the Minister of Transportation, how does the minister explain this inconsistency between what is being said and what the documents are telling us is happening?
Hon. C. Trevena: I’d like to thank the member for the opportunity to share how we are looking at bringing in a new way of doing business in B.C. and finding a made-in-B.C. solution.
Yes, we are looking at the taxi industry. There’s no question about that. Yes, we are talking to ride-share companies, and yes, we are engaging with stakeholders. We listed some of the stakeholders on the terms of reference. Obviously, we didn’t list every single one. It would have taken pages and pages and pages to include them.
We are involving people. We are talking with people. We are accepting comments from people. We want to make sure we get this right and that this is the proper made-in-B.C. solution. I look forward to the involvement from the opposition members to be part of this.
Mr. Speaker: The member for Saanich North and the Islands on a supplemental.
Olsen:To be clear, this is not an issue of time for us, necessarily. I think that everyone understands that public policy that’s debated and developed in this House needs to be done right, and reviewing taxi legislation is part of the solution.
However, what makes no sense to us is that a process that is set up for updating this industry while pretending we can ignore the biggest change of it, which is what we see in the process that’s been set up. This is actually a change in the business model. Disruptive tech businesses are changing the business model. We need to be looking for fairness, not a level playing field.
To the Minister of Transportation. Will the minister commit to providing an updated terms of reference that includes a more inclusive list of the people that are being consulted on this and that Mr. Hara will not simply engage ride-sharing companies but ensure that the report produced will include considerations for a regulatory regime in which ride-sharing companies can operate in this province?
Hon. C. Trevena: As I mentioned in answer to the previous question, we are talking to ride-share companies. We’re talking to a wide range of organizations, both international ride-share companies as well as local ride-share companies. We’re talking to stakeholders from across the province and beyond.
As people know, we have had Dr. Dan Hara, who I think perhaps said it best — and if I might quote him: “Whenever there’s a new technology that offers potential benefits and improvements, it’s always possible to allocate those benefits so there’s a win-win-win” — so that users win, customers win and so that providers win.
That’s what we’re wanting to do to make sure that, in B.C., everybody wins, that we get a solution that works for people. We will be bringing that on, and I look forward to engaging the member for Saanich North and the Islands in this discussion as we move forward.
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