Article content continued

All that was left, really, was for the province to approve the insurance plan, and for the City of Calgary to adopt a similar approach.

Today, though, was Edmonton’s deadline for Uber to have the insurance in place. The province announced Monday that the insurance coverage won’t be available until July 1. That’s despite the fact that the superintendent of insurance has signed off on the framework.

Not only that, but the province has mandated that ride-for-hire drivers must undergo a police background check, conducted by police. Uber already mandates that its drivers undergo a criminal background check – the same kind that Hockey Alberta and Girl Guides of Canada uses – and the City of Edmonton deemed that process sufficient.

Meanwhile, here in Calgary, rather than follow the sensible roadmap laid out by our neighbours to the north, city council last week revealed its own rules. Instead of a per-trip fee, Calgary will impose onerous, across-the-board annual fees on drivers. All told, those fees could total more than $600, significantly reducing the earnings of part-time drivers.

To his credit, Ward 8 Coun. Evan Woolley tried to rescue the process by proposing a variable fee structure and trying to avoid creating unnecessary barriers for drivers. Alas, his amendments were shot down, and the rest of council voted to approve the original amendments.

Uber quickly announced that it could not operate in Calgary under the conditions approved by city council. So the plan to legalize ride sharing has chased away the one ride-sharing company that had previously operated in Calgary and had hoped to resume doing so. Many on council seem untroubled by that, however, and have suggested that other ride-sharing companies may wish to step in and fill that void.