The City of Edmonton has closed a loophole and made it more difficult for taxi drivers convicted of serious crimes to get their taxi licence back.

Aligning with the province of Alberta, any Edmonton cab driver must be free of certain convictions for 10 years before they are allowed to shuttle passengers around.

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Those convictions include sex and assault charges, trafficking, fraud, theft or unlawful operation of a motor vehicle.

Previously, a taxi driver could appeal to the city to lift a ban. Now a licence suspension could only be lifted if that driver is granted a federal pardon.

Strathcona County and St. Albert also have a 10-year wait period after a conviction. Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Grande Prairie require a five-year wait.

Leduc, Red Deer and Calgary have no specific wait period, but a licence inspector may refuse to renew a taxi driver’s licence.

Councillor Mo Banga suggested that ban should be shortened to six years — a number that didn’t sit well with Councillor Bev Esslinger.

“Absolutely not,” said Esslinger, “To me, public safety is paramount.”

“Would you put your daughter in that cab?”

Under the City of Edmonton Vehicle for Hire Bylaw, anyone driving a taxi must report a Criminal Code conviction and reapply for a licence every one to two years. Included in that application is a police background check.

Bailey Coty, with WAVE, Women’s Advocacy Voice of Edmonton, wants the city to do more to protect vulnerable passengers.

Coty, who often uses a wheelchair, said she has had numerous uncomfortable taxi rides and called herself a “sitting duck.”

“When you are actually in the back of a taxi in a wheelchair, they have to come and unrestrain you,” said Coty. “It can be really awkward and it can be an issue where I can’t escape the situation.”

Coty said at times she felt trapped and obligated to answer inappropriate questions.

“It has even gotten to the point where sometimes a driver will touch me and do something wildly inappropriate.”

Coty said mandating cameras in all taxis would help protect passengers and beef up safety for customers and the driver.

“There are cameras on almost every ETS bus now,” said Coty, who also said the city’s 311 complaint system isn’t good enough.

“311 is terrible,” said Coty. “It’s not as if you’re in a really uncomfortable situation or dangerous situation you can call up 311 and tell them everything that the cab driver is doing.”

WAVE delivered a long list of recommendations to the city to implement which include an online reporting portal and a driver rating system similar to Uber.

The city will meet with WAVE and other stakeholders, including the taxi industry to explore increased safety for anyone using a taxi, ETS or other transportation services.

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