INUVIK - Duane DeBastien might have to shell out some $200,000 for a GPS tracking system if he wants to follow through with his plans to operate a cab company in Inuvik.

That was the recommendation Inuvik's new town council made in its first committee of the whole meeting on Monday. Less than a month ago on Nov. 2 , the previous council voted to grant DeBastien a taxi service licence to operate his proposed company, Delta Cabs, using a radio system.

United Taxi owner Abdalla Mohamed urged council on Monday night to force Duane DeBastien, who plans to start a new taxi company, to install the same GPS system his business uses. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photo

United Taxi owner Abdalla Mohamed made a presentation to council urging members to force DeBastien to implement the same GPS equipment that United Taxi had installed about a year ago. The town is in charge of regulating taxi service in Inuvik.

"We've been running this service for 19 years and it's never worked with a radio," said Mohamed. "Every single day we had a fight, a problem. With the computer everybody is monitoring himself."

The system can keep a detailed log of calls and cab routes so the company and town can follow up on customer complaints more effectively. Currently United Taxi is the only cab company in town.

Sara Brown, Inuvik's senior administrative officer, agreed that complaints to the town office have declined significantly since the system had been installed.

"We went from four or five complaints in a week to four or five complaints in the last year," she said.

One of the main reasons why the previous council voted against forcing cabbies to equip their cars with the system was because such a provision wasn't included in the bylaw regulating taxi service. Council agreed on Monday to give DeBastien six months to put in the system and to give the town time to amend the bylaw.

Deputy mayor Chris Larocque told council that DeBastien had come to him stating he planned to install the system in about three months.

Council was expected to make its decision official by voting on the matter at the regular meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 25.

Town council also requested Debastien make a presentation at that meeting.

DeBastien could not be reached for comment. But he stated in the Nov. 5 issue of Inuvik Drum that the town shouldn't dictate to cab owners how they should operate their businesses.

Only two councillors argued that DeBastien should have been given more time to purchase and install the equipment, with Coun. Vince Sharpe arguing a year would suffice for him to come up with the money. Terry Halifax said the bylaw should be revisited as a group, including cab drivers.

Pleased with council's decision, Mohamed emphasized that he wasn't afraid of more competition, but he admitted that he was concerned about the possibility of competing drivers communicating by radio to steal fares from his drivers.

"We have nothing against competition. We just have an issue with going back on a standard that has taken a lot of time and effort to be achieved."