Dalton McGuinty and the Ontario Liberal's new Accessibility for Ontarian's with Disabilities Act sounds like a pleasant and caring law. After all, what sort of monsters would we be if we didn't allow disabled people to go anywhere they wanted in the province.
Maybe I could agree, if it weren't for the fact that my parent's taxi business will shut down because of this one-size fits all policy.
Under this new accessibility act, municipalities (who issue taxi licenses) are required to make sure that private transportation companies fit into their accessibility plan.
79. (1) Every municipality shall consult with its municipal accessibility advisory committee, where one has been established in accordance with subsection 29 (1) or (2) of the Act, the public and persons with disabilities to determine the proportion of on-demand accessible taxicabs required in the community.
(2) Every municipality shall identify progress made toward meeting the need for on-demand accessible taxicabs, including any steps that will be taken to meet the need, in its accessibility plan required under Part I.
(3) Municipalities shall meet the requirements of this section by January 1, 2013.
(4) In this section, “accessible taxicab” means an accessible taxicab as defined in section 1 of Regulation 629 of the Revised Regulations of Ontario, 1990 (Vehicles for the Transportation of Physically Disabled Persons) made under the Highway Traffic Act.
Private taxi companies that do not comply face fines.
My mom found out about this new law when she went to renew her taxi license this week. The Municipality of Strong Township told her they have to review the law to see if she is even eligible to receive one.
Option 1: Buy an accessible van. Option 2: Shut the business down.
Unfortunately, accessible vans don't come cheap, particularly to a business that barely manages to pay the bills.
This isn't a big company. She has ONE taxi van and that's usually more than enough for three seasons a year. Since the economic crash in 2008, it's more than enough for the fourth season (summer) too.
My parents asked me to move home (against my better judgment) in 2005 and started the taxi a couple of months later.
My dad was having regular heart attacks, was scheduled for a triple bypass, and wanted to start a small business rather than go on a pension. He can't operate heavy machinery in open face pits (something he did for 30 years) because of other new legislation.
I agreed to help start the business and I still help out. I do as many of the calls for late-nighter, drunks, drug addicts, dangerous people, long distance trips and horrible weather calls as possible.
My mom runs the business now, and I'm not about to let her deal with those problems.
We are the only legal licensed and insured taxi in a 30 mile radius and we're shutting down because of McGuinty and his new law.
We already compete with a host of illegal taxis, and there is no form of enforcement of laws to be had.
This one, seemingly harmless, law is shutting down at least one family business. I imagine there are other taxis in rural and remote Ontario towns facing the same problem.
It's just an example of increased regulations doing damage to our economy. Ontario has become Canada's big economic joke and the powers that be in Queen's Park are still providing punchlines.
There is always Option 3: We could operate the taxi illegally (without licenses or required taxi insurance), but all it would take is one complaint to the Ontario Human Rights Commission and my parents would lose more than just their business – to an unelected group which doesn't have to follow the rules of law.
If Strong Township comes back and says, “Sorry. No Dice,” the taxi is done. Considering I drove more than 200 miles on News Year's Eve and didn't see a single RIDE program, I don't think it'll make a difference.
Dalton McGuinty's made a difference though. Too bad it's a negative one.
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