Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 15/02) - A bylaw regulating taxi cabs and drivers that came into effect March 1, has Inuvik's sole cab company scrambling to keep up with customer demand.

The new law states that every taxi must be operated by the owner who carries the permit.

This put seven drivers out of work and left United Taxi president Abdalla Mohamed without a night shift and a shortage of daytime drivers.

"I cannot keep up with the calls," Mohamed said.

He's outraged that the town is legislating how he has to run his operation.

"They are not dealing with the taxi business as a separate entity; they are dealing with it like it is one of their own departments, with no expertise what-so-ever in the business," Mohamed said.

During the last boom in Inuvik, cab companies sprang up like oil wells in the Beaufort and Mohamed says the town stepped in to control the business.

In 1995, he says council decided on the "magic number" of a maximum of 20 taxis, but were unable to whittle the number down through attrition.

"They tried five times, but every time they drafted the bylaw, they would fail to establish that magic number," he recalled. "So with this new bylaw they tried to force it."

To solve the plight of too many cabs on the road, then council formed the Taxi Commission. But Mohamed says the commission is useless, because it's comprised of public citizens who have no expertise in taxis, tourism or transportation.

"It's a functionless body," he said flatly. "As the president of United Taxi, I sit in as a non-voting member, but I have no say. I can argue the case, but I have no say."

"It should be made up of people who have a stake in the industry -- hotels, tourism, grocery store owners -- that's where our clients come from," he offered.

Mohamed said there used to be 36 cars on the road and that number has since dwindled to 26 through people finding new work or moving, but he says they were never legislated out of work until now.

A recession in 1995-96 also made less work for the drivers, but he says the magic number never changed when the boom returned.

"This number does not exist; it is not in the interest of the public, the company or the employment of these seven people, but the town feels it's alright."

Drivers are limited to a 16-hour work day. United has 22 drivers on staff, but never operates at 100 per cent due to holiday, illness, mechanical or other problems.

They are now operating with 17 drivers -- down almost 30 per cent from last month.

Now short seven drivers, Mohamed worries if his business will survive.

Also, since the new bylaw ties the permit holder to a specific vehicle, when that car breaks down, the owner must wait for it to be fixed before he can go back to work.

"If I blow my motor today, I might be out of work for a month until it gets repaired," he said.

Under the town's livery licensing bylaw, the company is subject to loss of licence if too many complaints are filed against him. But Mohamed says he can't operate efficiently under the new laws.

"If the town wants to run my business, I'm willing to turn it over to them," he said. "They are basically running it anyway, but they are not paying the bills.

Coercion of commerce

Derek Lindsay, President of the Inuvik Chamber of Commerce and former town councillor says the government has no business regulating business.

"It's not a situation of not enough or too many taxis in town, it's the intervention of the municipal council in somebody's business," Lindsay said.

"If you're going to regulate one business, what's to stop them from regulating every business?" He said the situation where there were too many cabs and too many companies operating has since been solved through the market demand and now with only one company, the regulation is unnecessary.

"What if they said their should only be three accounting businesses in town, or four grocery stores," he asked. "Where do you stop?"

The manager of Frosties Pub, Anna Mae Fairley says according to liquor licensing, her customers must leave the establishment at 2:00 am.

She feels more cabs are needed and it's much more than an inconvenience.

"If we don't get a proper taxi service, somebody's going to end-up freezing to death," Fairley said.

"When I'm putting 150 people out of the bar at closing time, they may get tired of waiting and try to walk home."

Last Saturday night, Fairley said her staff had called for a cab after closing and were told there were 40 calls backed up, so the staff walked home.

Are you talking to me?

At Monday's committee of the whole meeting, a dozen cab drivers were present to voice their concerns to council, but council refused to answer questions or make statements because the drivers have filed a legal challenge to the bylaw.

Driver Antoine Alkadri made an impassioned plea to council to repeal the bylaw and let the unemployed drivers come back to work. He had one question.

"What is the harm in letting them come back to work," Alkadri asked, but got no answer. Unemployed driver Kerry Alkadri apologized for the legal action, but said the drivers saw no other recourse. He pleaded with council to sit down and talk off the record with the drivers.

"We don't want court; we don't want lawyers; it was our last option," Alkadri said.

"We are willing to get rid of this legal action if we can come to a satisfactory resolution," he told council.

Jerri Sharpe-Staples said they'd presented a petition with 600 names to council protesting the bylaw, but it was rejected.

"What is council doing sticking their nose where it doesn't belong," Sharpe-Staples asked. "You cannot prevent the growth of a business."

Taxi commission chair George Doolittle and deputy mayor Arlene Hansen -- who was filling in for travelling mayor Peter Clarkson -- declined to comment.

Coun. Clarence Wood questioned why the presentations were allowed, when council could not respond.

"It's extremely embarrassing to me, to have to sit through a public presentation and have absolutely no chance of rebuttal or discussion," Wood said.