Judge grants owners of Standard taxi plates an injunction

"We have a very good argument," Standard plate owner Joel Barr told The Villager the morning after the ruling.

"There was a little bit of wrangling, but we got what we wanted. We’re quite satisfied."

Barr, a Bloor West and Jane streets-area resident, is part of the 23 per cent of Toronto’s taxi industry who are owner-drivers. Council’s February vote to reform the taxi industry in Toronto has significant repercussions for drivers who own their own vehicle.

The taxi reform includes establishing a new type of taxi licence called the Toronto Taxicab Licence (TTL) that all plate owners must have by June 30, 2024. The aim of the TTL is to allow drivers to work for themselves without having to pay fees to the person who owns the vehicle.

The iTaxiworkers Association and the United Steelworkers (USW) called council’s vote to reform the taxi industry a victory. The changes, they said, will allow drivers to keep more of their earnings, as "middlemen and absentee investors are eliminated from the system".

However, the TTL will replace the existing system of Standard licences (which can be sold) and ‘Ambassador’ licences (those that cannot be sold) and must be used only by their owners.

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• Dec 31, 1969
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• Dec 31, 1969
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Barr is the proprietor of a Standard licence, implemented in the 1960s.

"I had no money for RSPs. I was putting my money back into the business. We’re self-employed. We don’t have medical coverage. This was our nest egg," Barr said of his Standard plate, which, previous to the reforms, could have been worth as much as $350,000.

Stories like Barr’s are far from uncommon.

The changes will destroy the lifetime investment of hundreds of cab drivers and their families, say holders of Standard plates; people like Gail Bouchard.

Bouchard’s late brother-in-law was the owner of two Standard plates. He and Bouchard’s sister planned to use the income from his Standard plates to care for their son, who has an intellectual disability and lives in community housing.

"My sister died on June 3. The money from the sale of the taxi cab plate was to go into a trust to improve (my nephew’s) life," she said.

Bouchard’s brother-in-law was a cab driver for decades. When he died at age 59, his plates were transferred to his wife’s name. She lived on the income from those plates. When she fell ill in 1997, her son, Michael, moved into a group home.

"It was her hope that the value of those plates would provide for Michael when they passed away," said Bouchard, the executor of her sister’s estate. "Then, all of a sudden, the rules changed and he could end up with nothing."

Bouchard was one of several "taxi widows" who shared their stories as part of a press conference that was held prior to the June 25 court date.

Nusrat Raana, a Jane Street and Finch Avenue-area resident’s husband, Mahmood Bhatti, was killed behind the wheel of his cab in 2006.

"The Standard taxi plate is how I support my four children," she said in a statement.

"We are still struggling after my husband’s death and to have this taken away from us would be devastating. I don’t know how we will survive."

This fall, Standard plate owners will be back in court to support the Toronto Taxi Alliance Inc.’s motion to quash the city’s reform vote.

"If we win that case, the TTL is dead," said Barr.