Edmonton's taxi commission surprised city councillors this week by refusing to approve a lottery to hand out 100 new taxi plates, throwing a settlement with the international airport in jeopardy.
But the taxi drivers who packed the room at City Hall to voice frustration over eligibility rules celebrated the result. Many were emotional, saying "God bless you" after the motion to send the request back to council passed.
"They voted it down, yeah," said Vince Paniak, general manager for Yellow Cab, reached after the Wednesday meeting. "We (were) going to have people from out of town making money on Edmonton drivers."
The draw for 100 new plates was to be part of an agreement between the city and the airport.
In 2006, the airport signed an exclusive contract with Leduc-based company Airport Taxi. That meant cabs in Edmonton could bring people to the airport, but they drove an empty cab back into the city. Edmonton taxi drivers lost business and travellers had fewer options as they waited for a ride.
After a year of negotiations with Coun. Amarjeet Sohi and city administrators, the airport agreed to sign its next contract with an Edmonton company, but in return the city needs to issue 100 new plates.
They opened the draw up to people without Edmonton addresses so Air-port Taxi drivers could be involved, and the Edmonton Vehicle for Hire Commission was supposed to set the procedure and date of the draw Wednesday.
Instead, they deferred, and sent it back to council for review.
Sohi interpreted the commission's decision as asking for yet more consultation.
"I am deeply disappointed," he said on Friday. "The commission has failed to recognize the hard work council has done on this."
"If we lose this agreement, we will have this continuing deadheading between Edmonton and the airport. We cannot risk losing this agreement," he said.
Paniak said taxi drivers objected to eligibility criteria for the lottery.
To apply, drivers had to pay $240 and have a valid City of Edmonton chauffeur's licence. Plus, they must not currently or previously have owned an Edmonton plate. If they won a plate in the draw, they must be the primary driver and commit to driving the taxi 51 per cent of the time.
Paniak said a chauffeur's licence is relatively easy to get. Drivers have to take a three-or four-day course in Edmonton, pass an English test and get security clearance. He's been getting calls from drivers as far away as Calgary, Red Deer and Grande Prairie who are interested in entering and hiring local drivers to drive the cab if they win the plate.
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