Montreal taxi industry to meet Tuesday to discuss Uber deal

MONTREAL – Representatives of Montreal’s taxi industry are scheduled to meet Tuesday to draft a response to the recent deal between the provincial government and ride-hailing company Uber.

Taxi drivers take part in an anti-Uber protest at Trudeau Airport in Montreal on February 10, 2016. Representatives of Montreal’s taxi industry are scheduled to meet Tuesday to draft a response to the recent deal between the provincial government and ride-hailing company Uber. Taxi drivers are almost unanimously against the agreement, which allows Uber to continue operating during a one-year pilot project. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Taxi drivers are almost unanimously against the agreement, which allows Uber to continue operating during a one-year pilot project.

While they oppose the deal, cabbies don’t agree on how to pressure the government to reverse course.

Taxi lobby spokesman Guy Chevrette said the province’s various cab companies and their drivers will “no doubt” come up with a unified front after Tuesday’s meeting.

Related: Quebec taxi lobby furious with Uber deal; considering legal action, protests

Chevrette said he will suggest the lobby take legal action against the government, but refused to give details about other possible measures, such as strikes.

The lobby met on Monday with the province’s transport minister, Laurent Lessard, but Chevrette described the get-together as disappointing.

“It’s clear for (Lessard) that everything is legal, despite all the proof that we offer him,” Chevrette said, referring to the fact Uber continues to operate outside the law because the pilot project hasn’t yet come into effect.

“The government thinks it is right,” he continued. “It considers that Uber is operating within the law. It’s discriminatory and not equitable.”