The Legality of Uber
Mathew Karikas 7792881
Politics 1500 A01
The issue of Uber, specifically its legality, is a complicated one. Although Uber operates in many countries and still has unresolved legality issues abroad, for the purpose of this essay we will only be concerning ourselves with the legality of Uber in Canada. Currently Uber has been operating in 20 cities throughout Canada, This has led to various problems in major cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, and Edmonton. Through CBC.ca I found an article about the recent decision from Edmonton to fully legalize Uber. The article outlines the Edmonton city council vote that made Uber legal. …show more content…
Thus far Uber has been operating above the law illegally, Uber does not currently require its drivers to be insured or have a taxi license, and a personal car is used. In addition to these problems Uber also does not pay taxes to the city. Allowing a company as big as Uber to profit off of illegal activity sets a bad precedent and can lead others to do the same. The second reason this issue is important is the impact it has on the economy. One article from “The Star.com” suggest Ontarians think Uber can actually boost the economy by providing competition and creating a new market. Consumers in Canada have been looking for this type of change and competition for a long time and appear to be supportive of it. The competition it encourages can only be good for the economy. Uber becoming Legal, which one could reasonably assume will lead to the growth and spread of Uber across the country, can be a very good thing for consumers. More competition and Ubers ride sharing pricing will drive down prices in the public transportation sector. Taxis will be forced to lower prices to compete with Uber and just generally update the service. Taxis are outdated and inefficient with no real revolutionary changes having occurred in the past couple decades. Legality issues aside Ubers system is just flat out better for consumers. The use of an App makes it easy to find a driver while seeing exactly where they are and the ability to check prices before you even step inside the car is something the taxi industry has never been able to satisfy. Uber however has the potential to put many people out of work, people who have never
Mathew Karikas 7792881
Politics 1500 A01
The issue of Uber, specifically its legality, is a complicated one. Although Uber operates in many countries and still has unresolved legality issues abroad, for the purpose of this essay we will only be concerning ourselves with the legality of Uber in Canada. Currently Uber has been operating in 20 cities throughout Canada, This has led to various problems in major cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, and Edmonton. Through CBC.ca I found an article about the recent decision from Edmonton to fully legalize Uber. The article outlines the Edmonton city council vote that made Uber legal. …show more content…
Thus far Uber has been operating above the law illegally, Uber does not currently require its drivers to be insured or have a taxi license, and a personal car is used. In addition to these problems Uber also does not pay taxes to the city. Allowing a company as big as Uber to profit off of illegal activity sets a bad precedent and can lead others to do the same. The second reason this issue is important is the impact it has on the economy. One article from “The Star.com” suggest Ontarians think Uber can actually boost the economy by providing competition and creating a new market. Consumers in Canada have been looking for this type of change and competition for a long time and appear to be supportive of it. The competition it encourages can only be good for the economy. Uber becoming Legal, which one could reasonably assume will lead to the growth and spread of Uber across the country, can be a very good thing for consumers. More competition and Ubers ride sharing pricing will drive down prices in the public transportation sector. Taxis will be forced to lower prices to compete with Uber and just generally update the service. Taxis are outdated and inefficient with no real revolutionary changes having occurred in the past couple decades. Legality issues aside Ubers system is just flat out better for consumers. The use of an App makes it easy to find a driver while seeing exactly where they are and the ability to check prices before you even step inside the car is something the taxi industry has never been able to satisfy. Uber however has the potential to put many people out of work, people who have never