Uber’s future in Toronto could be decided at this week’s council meeting

Toronto:It appears the future of Uber in Toronto will come down to a very important vote at this week’s city council meeting, which begins Tuesday morning.
This week’s vote comes after members of the licensing and standards committee rejected a number of proposed regulations that would have effectively legalized Uber in the city.
Among the proposed regulations was a recommendation to create a separate licensing category for ride-sharing, something taxi drivers say creates a two-tier system that unfairly benefits Uber over tradition cabs.Despite the licensing committee’s decision, Mayor John Tory has maintained his belief that council will come through with a “balanced package of regulations” for ride-sharing services.
Speaking to reporters outside city hall Tuesday morning, Tory said the rules are never going to be “exactly the same” for both Uber drivers and cab driver.
“Cabs drivers, for example, have the right to pick up fares on the street. People can hail a cab on the street, which other participants in the ground transportation industry can’t and so that is not equal either and they (cab drivers) don’t want to give that up,” Tory said.
“It is one of those things where these are different businesses but the objective remains the same- to have safe transportation on the ground for people who want it to give them a choice in that ground transportation and to make sure that the competition is fairly regulated.”
Uber Canada recently said that it would have no choice but to pack up and leave the city if council were to accept the licensing committee’s amendments to ground transportation regulations in Toronto.
“If people are truly committed to achieving a balanced solution there is no reason for anybody to leave town,” the mayor told reporters last week.
The council meeting is set to get underway at 9:30 a.m.