Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Mar 08/02) - A new town bylaw sent some enraged Inuvik cab drivers storming into town hall on Monday afternoon.

The seven men had to be escorted from the building by RCMP, but later returned to the front steps with picket signs.

The drivers are upset over a new bylaw that came into effect March 1 and forces cab owners to be the sole operator of the vehicle. It has taken the seven Inuvik drivers off the road and out of work.

"They took our jobs away unjustly and without good reason," said taxi driver Kerry Alkadri, following the incident in town hall.

He and the other drivers contend that the new bylaw is based on some personal complaints from cab drivers who felt they weren't earning enough money.

"Who are they to care if we're making enough money?"

He says the public is losing in the end, with longer waits for cabs and tired and over-worked drivers.

"As it stood before, we couldn't keep up with the number of calls we had," Alkadri said. "With this new bylaw, we have non-stop complaints and the drivers can't keep up." Alkadri says the new boom is creating more need for taxis and instead of decreasing, and the town should be increasing the service.

Mayor Peter Clarkson said the new bylaw is a result of years of in-fighting amongst the taxi drivers.

Clarkson said the town previously allowed for taxi cab permits as well as driver permits and at one time there were 50 to 60 cab permits.

"This created price wars," Clarkson said. "They were offering rides for a dollar and the whole thing escalated into a pretty ugly situation."

Council then formed the taxi commission -- which was formed with members of council and public -- to regulate the number of drivers and licences.

"They decided that the most reasonable number for a town this size would be 20," he explained.

At that point, two drivers were allowed per cab, but no further permits were issued. If the owner had a permit and no longer lived in the community, he could still have someone else drive the cab.

The taxi commission decided to eliminate the absentee cab owners by requiring the licensee to be both owner and operator.

"Now those people who have the permits must drive those cars," Clarkson said.

As of Feb. 28, 23 of 26 cab permits were renewed and seven of those permit holders were using secondary drivers to operate their cabs.

"We're not reducing the number of cab permits in town, but we are ensuring that those permit holders must operate their own cabs."

He says the taxi commission will continue to monitor the situation and if the service to the public is suffering, the commission will recommend that council increase the number of permits.

Meanwhile the seven drivers have hired a lawyer to help them fight the bylaw and say they've spent over $17,000 to fight for their jobs back.

"We are too proud to go on welfare or unemployment," Alkadri said. "We can't eat; we can't sleep; we have families to look after."