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In other words, the same outdated and discredited regulations that turned the taxi industry into a dysfunctional mess. The rules are also contrary to the current business model used successfully by Uber and Lyft in nearly every other major city in North America, where ride-hailing drivers move around freely. As Uber and Lyft grapple with these restrictions, the taxi industry could swoop in to seize the biggest share of the ride-hailing market.

I told you in Wednesday’s column how the taxi industry has proposed its own ride-hailing app called Kater. The Kater business model includes operational boundaries and strict limits on the number of vehicles, the same as the model outlined by Trevena. She insisted Kater will not be handed a monopoly over ride-hailing.

“This is not about any particular company,” she said. “We are not working with any one company as a government, nor would we.”

But the government could bring in rules that are so restrictive that Uber and Lyft will be shut out, or secure just a small slice of the market, while the taxi industry’s ride-hailing app scoops the biggest share. Watch for Uber and Lyft to not give up. They’ll try to work with the government to finally start operating in B.C. But the deck may be stacked against them.

Some of Trevena’s spin and doubletalk, meanwhile, was laughable.

“I wouldn’t say that we’re far behind the times at all,” she said with a straight face, even though she knows that the NDP, and the Liberals before them, fought and resisted ride-hailing for years, making us the last major North American jurisdiction where ride-hailing is still illegal.