Jess McDiarmid
Northern News Services
Published Friday, December 7, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - A group of Yellowknife taxi drivers wants the city to freeze the number of taxi licences.

The Yellowknife Taxi Drivers Association asked city councillors at the municipal services committee meeting Dec. 3 to limit the number of taxis on the streets to help them make a better living.

Fadil Memedi, representing the Yellowknife Taxi Drivers Association, said under current conditions, drivers must work 14- to 16-hour shifts to scrape by. - Jess McDiarmid/NNSL photo

"Right now we're asking for a stop (to issuing) the plates so the drivers that are out there can make their fair share of their income," said association representative Fadil Memedi.

Memedi also asked the committee to consider an immediate moratorium until an agreement is reached between the city and the group, which represents roughly 90 drivers from Diamond Cabs and City Cab.

About 20 drivers - both for and against the suggestion - showed up at the meeting.

"The issue has been before council in some capacity or other for over two years now," said Memedi.

In a presentation to city council in November 2005, taxi drivers said if they worked an eight-hour day, they would earn $29,000 a year and take home $11,000 after paying expenses such as company dues, fuel, insurance and repairs.

Most work about double that time to earn around $30,000 after expenses, an inadequate amount in a city with a high cost of living, according to the association. It said long hours jeopardize personal health and passenger safety. And drivers make less now than four or five years ago, said Memedi, as increases in hotel shuttle buses and rising fuel costs have cut into profits.

"We call a 12-hour shift a short shift," said Memedi. "At one time, I could pay my bills with a 12-hour shift."

The association submitted a proposal to the city in February 2006 arguing too many cabs on the road made it hard for taxi drivers to earn a decent living.

Yellowknife has roughly 110 taxis for a population of about 20,000, which is a higher ratio of taxis to people than any Canadian city that has statistics available, according to the association.

A freeze on licences would mean drivers currently working wouldn't have further competition and would also stop seasonal influxes of "uncommitted individuals (who) come and exploit the busy season," reducing public safety and accountability. It would also prevent the formation of monopolies as few small operators or individuals could afford to invest in a precarious market, the association argued.

The taxi drivers proposed a model that includes a freeze on plates until it's determined that more are required, issuing transferable plates to owners and/or drivers, not companies, and mandatory driver training.

Memedi stressed the association was open to any solutions the city wished to bring forward.

Other drivers showed up at the meeting to speak against further regulation of the industry.

Bob Dunsmore of Diamond Cabs said comparisons to other areas weren't fair because there is "no common ground whatsoever."

Yellowknife is a capital city and the transport hub of the North, he said. Severe weather and outlying communities dependent on taxis demand that there are more of them.

Dunsmore said eliminating competition by limiting licences wouldn't help the industry.

"I hope that city council will err on the side of free enterprise," said Dunsmore.

Diamond Cabs president Ted Yaceyko submitted a letter to the city saying the company was against limiting licences and also spoke at the meeting.

Putting a freeze on would be "going back in time" and "killing the democratic system," said Yaceyko.

Some councillors expressed concern that freezing the number of licences would drive the price of them up if they were transferable between drivers.

In Yellowknife, licences cost $35. In 11 Canadian cities where licences are regulated, they range from $50 to $500,000.

Councillors decided in a 5-3 split to put forward a recommendation that administration determine how a temporary freeze could be implemented while revising the bylaw to restrict further licences.

Memedi will make a presentation at next Monday's council meeting, when a vote is expected.