Like most cities in Canada, Regina’s municipal government already has its fair share of challenges. Yet a new report prepared for council wants the city to take on even more duties, such as regulating the appearance of taxi drivers and the age of their cabs. Talk about ludicrous. Council should do the right thing and send the report to the curb.

Although it’s not exactly clear what the problem is with the existing taxi industry in Regina, city council saw fit to hand $47,000 to a Tennessee consultant to investigate the industry and see how the government could “help.”

Not surprisingly, the consultant’s report notes on page 42 that the city’s taxi industry earned an “ok” or “good” score in each category it reviewed. Yes, without the government intervening and regulating all aspects of the cab industry, it received positive grades in categories such as “affordability,” “promptness,” and “courtesy.”

Despite that, the Tennessee consultant still recommended widespread intervention. Consider some of the gems from his report.

On page 57 he recommends “Each taxi broker and its drivers should develop a dress code that identifies that driver with the company. This dress code is to be approved by the city.”

Talk about bizarre. It’s a cab ride for goodness sake. What does the driver’s appearance have to do with anything? If it is that important to you, then call a company that has a uniform policy in place or simply don’t get in the cab.
 
Besides, does the city really want to go down the road of approving how people dress in the private sector? Is this seriously a role of city government?

Not surprisingly, the report also calls for, you guessed it, more government. The consultant recommends a new “Taxi Regulatory Division or Board” and spending over $90,000 to hire two new staff members. The pair will inspect cabs and test the English speaking abilities and “street knowledge” of the drivers.

Good grief Charlie Brown. What’s next - a new government body to test the knowledge of clothing store employees on the elasticity of the underwear they sell? Seriously, if you hailed a cab and the cabby greeted you by saying “asdfjkljksdjf” would you get in?

No doubt some cabbies could improve their English language skills, but who couldn’t? At the end of the day, private industry should be deciding if it needs to send employees for additional language training, not a government “gotcha squad.”

The composition of the new board is also puzzling. The report wants the Director of Fire & Protective Service, a member of City Council and a rep from the Regina Police Service to be included.

No offence to any of the aforementioned people, but what do they know about the taxi industry? And don’t they have other responsibilities to focus on?

The consultant also calls for a 437% increase in the fees paid by cab companies to the government as well as new regulations on the age of the cars they drive. Yes, he wants the city to increase annual cab fees from $180 per year to $968. Gee...wonder who will end up paying that?

One thing is for certain, the city should be focussing on core responsibilities such as fixing pot holes, putting out fires and dealing with crime, not micromanaging the taxi industry. This is one report Council would be wise to send to the curb.