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“Our bylaws, which were which written many years before technology advanced to where it is today, simply do not adequately capture the operations of companies like Uber,” he said. “As a result, what we have today is not a level playing field.”

Tory spoke to reporters after what one imagines was a tense meeting between taxi representatives, city officials and a senior Uber Canada employee. When the man from Uber tried to speak to reporters later, he was shouted down by the taxi lobby.

Tory said he hoped city staff could present options for a new law to council this fall. “We cannot have the wild west,” he said. “But we cannot also have a city which in some way ignores the march of technology and time.”

‘We heard it a lot from many drivers, they’re going to go out on the street and it’s going to be out of control’

An Ontario superior court judge ruled Friday that Uber — which connects independent drivers to passengers through a smartphone app — is not operating as a taxi brokerage in Toronto and is not violating local law. He denied the city’s application for an injunction against the company.

While nominally a defeat for the city, the ruling paves the way for Tory to craft a regulatory solution that creates a better, more liberalized taxi market in Toronto.

Doing so, however, won’t be easy. Toronto taxi drivers have already staged one large protest against Uber, shutting down the streets surrounding City Hall in May. A representative for the industry hinted last week they may plot further disruptions during the Pan Am Games.

Uber’s entrance into the cloistered taxi market has caused similar strife in cities across Canada, and around the world. In Johannesburg, Uber drivers have been threatened and intimidated by metered taxi drivers, according to media reports. On Monday, the San Francisco-based company said it would start providing driver security at certain Johannesburg locations.