'I don't think it's the province's role to police companies that don't show up,' says Premier John Horgan

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – It’s not the government’s role to police taxi companies. That’s coming from B.C.’s premier, after NEWS 1130’s reporting on the extent of pre-booked cabs failing to show up.

On Monday, we told you about a senior who was left scrambling to attend an appointment at the hospital. In another case, someone says she booked a cab to take her baby to BC Children’s Hospital and was left out in the winter cold with her sick infant.

I booked a cab to take my infant to BC Children’s in Winter. Got a call they were outside, packed her up and stood in the cold with my sick baby for 15 minutes. Called the company and they said “Oh yeah, they cancelled because they didn’t want to cross the bridge.” We NEED Uber. — LegallyMom (@MomLegally) March 9, 2019

But if you’re expecting any sort of crackdown from the province on cab companies that fail to show up, Premier John Horgan says that’s not up to his government.

“Many of the consumer protection issues that are conjured up when we talk about bringing in competition I believe will be addressed by that competition. The challenge, of course, is we don’t have enough vehicles to meet the demand in the community.”

Horgan thinks the issue is most apparent on rainy days. “On a sunny day, people are more inclined to walk those few blocks. But … when the rain is coming from the sky, people want to get into a vehicle. If they can’t find one, they’re frustrated by that. I understand that.”

“But I don’t think it’s the province’s role to police companies that don’t show up. I think the marketplace will determine that those companies won’t be in business for very long, if they’re not providing the service that they advertise that they are going to provide,” he said.

Horgan believes the introduction of ride hailing, which is scheduled to come to B.C. later this year, will address many concerns.

“We enabled ride-hailing to come to British Columbia by passing a series of bills last fall. Eight significant pieces of legislation needed change. The last stage in bringing ride hailing to British Columbia is ensuring that ICBC has an insurance package that meets the needs of the travelling public,” he said.

On Monday, Green Party MLA Adam Olsen said he was surprised to still hear about so many instances of cabs not showing up, despite customers pre-booking.

“Years of opportunity and a head start for taxi companies to get it right and they haven’t taken the advantage that they’ve been given,” said the Saanich North and the Islands MLA.

In one case on Friday, a woman was almost late for a medical appointment when the cab she ordered didn’t show up. When we reached out to the company involved, we were told the cancellation may have been weather-related.

– With files from Marcella Bernardo