Cab companies hailed for improved Indigenous relations

Three taxi drivers have been fired and others suspended without pay since a zero-tolerance policy for mistreatment of Indigenous passengers was implemented by Winnipeg’s two largest cab companies.

Unicity Taxi and Duffy’s Taxi began working with the guidance of an Indigenous-led safety committee to improve driver-passenger interactions in 2022, including the filming of a series of training videos and building in-depth policies in response to passengers’ complaints.

At a Thursday event to recognize the action group, leaders from both companies said there’s been a sharp decline in the number of complaints.

Unicity Taxi manager Abhishek Tara said three of their drivers have been fired since they adopted the zero-tolerance policy, which commits to investigating complaints of harassment, violence, abusive language and racism against passengers. Each vehicle is equipped with video and audio surveillance that’s accessible only to police and the city’s vehicles for hire department.

“We terminated them, because after this committee, we have made a policy for the taxi industry. Whenever we receive any complaint like sexual harassment or abuse complaint, we follow the zero-tolerance policy. We terminate the driver right away,” he told the Free Press.

“We want to set an example for every driver.”

At Duffy’s Taxi, “three or four” drivers have been suspended after arguments with passengers, said manager Ram Valluru.

The two companies, which represent over 90 per cent of Winnipeg’s taxi services, hold monthly meetings with the Indigenous taxi safety committee, which is largely composed of women.

“We identified the necessity of the taxi industry to bridge the gap between these two communities, taxi industry and the Indigenous community, because more than 50 per cent of our business is from the Indigenous community. We identified that they, based on their lived experiences, had some uncertainty about taxi safety for their women, girls, two-spirited people in their community,” Valluru said.

The industry has had a reputation of poor relations with Indigenous passengers.

Eric Robinson, a former NDP deputy premier, chairs the safety committee. He said he heard about multiple incidents of abuse against passengers during his time in government, which ended in 2016.

He said around two-thirds of Unicity and Duffy’s staff have received Indigenous cultural awareness training and enhanced safety training since the committee was formed.

“I think that together we have demonstrated that we have had the opportunity to work with each other in a very positive way,” he said.

Mayor Scott Gillingham commended the “exemplary” work done over the past four years at Thursday’s event.

“Often times, the taxi drivers are the ones who are on the front lines of seeing what’s going on in the community, and when there are issues related to public safety, sometimes the (drivers) are the eyes and ears to our community,” he said.

“So the working relationship between Indigenous leadership and the taxi industry is critical.”

Now that training has been implemented, the committee is working on filming videos for social media on how passengers can file complaints.

Robinson said he’d like the committee to encourage Indigenous women to become taxi drivers.

The committee hopes to position taxi services as a safe alternative to ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft, which don’t require that rides be recorded.

“Nowadays we are getting less complaints. Why? Because drivers know that everything is getting recorded, and they know that the taxi industry has a zero-tolerance policy now. If there is any complaint, they are going to investigate it properly,” Tara said.

“Now, there is a collaboration with the Indigenous people, with the taxi industry, and the vehicle for hire department, and they have to pay the price if they are going to do anything wrong.”

Winnipeg’s vehicle-for-hire bylaw includes a $250 fine for driver misconduct that doesn’t warrant a criminal charge.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca