“Completely wrong.”
“Entrapment.”
“Pure silliness.”
Indeed, Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum’s tactics to keep Uber out of Surrey – not to mention his crusade against ride-hailing in the first place – were being met with scorn and ridicule Monday.
McCallum told media Monday that 18 infraction warnings were handed out to Uber drivers since Friday. He also said there will be no more warnings – if caught operating in Surrey, they will be fined $500.
All this tough talk comes after the city sent a letter to Uber Friday telling it to cease its operations, which Uber shrugged off and “declined.”
It’s no secret who the mayor is looking out for here. We all know his supporters in the taxi industry played a big role in putting him in office a second time in Surrey.
SEE MORE: Surrey bylaw’s tactics with Uber drivers deemed ‘entrapment’ and ‘completely wrong’
While it’s understandable that McCallum would act to protect the jobs of an industry that helped land him the mayor’s seat, it’s also easy to see why he would be criticized for ignoring the wishes of the city as a whole.
But if you ask him, he would tell you he isn’t ignoring residents at all, rather, he is listening to them.
“A large majority of our residents do not support ride-hailing in Surrey,” McCallum has previously stated, even being quoted as saying he knows this because he has been out in the community speaking to residents.
We have to wonder, which community was that?
Read page 7 in tomorrow’s issue of the Now-Leader and then try to tell us Surrey doesn’t want ride-hailing. Furthermore, of the many letters we have received, not one has been in support of McCallum’s ill-advised war with Uber.
And among the hundreds of comments on our Facebook and Twitter, we could only find a few that didn’t want ride-hailing.
Finally, while hardly scientific, 82 per cent of the 3,117 people who took our web poll (take it below) said they want ride-hailing.
For a slate that promised to listen to residents, it’s clear Safe Surrey is tone deaf – or is plugging its ears – when it comes to ride-hailing in Surrey.
Either way, it’s not a good look.
– Now-Leader
Do you want ride-hailing in Surrey?
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