The Ottawa Taxi Union, bitter that bylaw officers turned the heat up on cabbies over the weekend, is threatening major protests.

“Instead of them going after Uber, they’re harassing our people,” union president Amrik Singh told the Sun Monday at City Hall before meeting with councillors on taxi-related issues.

Singh said cabbies around the Rideau Centre were unfairly targeted by bylaw officers for interfering with traffic.

One of Singh’s union colleagues pulled a fistful of bylaw tickets out of his pocket to show how strict the enforcement was. One cabbie received $1,200 in fines within a few minutes, Singh said.

“The Rideau Centre is the busiest place for taxi drivers in the City of Ottawa, especially around this time,” Singh said.

The problem, Singh said, is the city took away the taxi stops on Rideau St. outside the mall because of the LRT construction. Taxis are still able to drive through the corridor, but the taxi stands have been relocated to surrounding streets.

Bylaw Chief Roger Chapman said the city has kept drivers in the loop.

“The city has provided the taxi industry with ongoing communication concerning changes and regulations,” Chapman said in an e-mail sent through the city’s communications department. “As a result of non-compliance, enforcement has been stepped up to ensure the construction zone remains free from obstructions.”

According to Chapman, “taxis that wait for fares in this area are being ticketed for interfering with the surrounding traffic patterns in addition to various taxi regulation infractions such as failing to produce or display taxi driver’s licence.”

Singh chided bylaw officers for zeroing in on cabbies.

“These people are so cruel, they don’t even talk to the driver,” Singh said.

Where the union has tried to address concerns through councillors, the city is “pushing us” to consider traffic-snarling protests like the ones recently witnessed in Toronto, Singh said.

According to Singh, unregulated Uber drivers are sucking up transportation business in Ottawa, yet cabbies are taking barbs from the public.

“We are taking all the hate. They scream at us day and night,” Singh said.

The union is still unhappy with what it believes is a low level of Uber enforcement by the city’s bylaw department.

The city will soon consider measures to update its taxi bylaw. One option could be a licensing regime for alternative ride-sharing services like Uber.

jon.willing@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @JonathanWilling