Ottawa cabbies protest new dress code
Bylaw requires collared shirts, closed-toe dress shoes
Last Updated: Wednesday, September 26, 2007 | 5:38 PM ET
CBC News
About 20 taxi drivers crashed an Ottawa city council meeting Wednesday to denounce a bylaw that forces them to sport more of a limo look.
The bylaw, which goes into effect next month, requires taxi drivers to wear clothing that clearly identifies them as drivers, including:
- A white, grey or blue shirt with a collar.
- Dark blue, black or khaki pants.
- Closed-toed dress shoes (no sandals or runners).
- Photo identification cards clipped to their shirts.
Tony Hajjar, who has driven a taxi for 30 years, was among those who spoke against the new rules.
The taxi drivers union misrepresented them when they agreed to the bylaw, he said.
"The enforcement people at the city office are so adamant to say you have to be here with a uniform, but no specification of what uniform, so we don't know what the hell to show up with," he said. "They're pushing us into the ground."
But the city's chief bylaw officer, Susan Jones, said the rules are intended to boost the taxi business.
"Sometimes we call it tough love. We're really trying to help the industry out," she said.
Taxi companies and cities that have implemented dress codes in other places, such as Atlanta and San Francisco, have seen their business go up, she said.
"We think that the taxi industry could serve the public much better by having the uniform look."
Coun. Eli El-Chantiry said most taxi drivers dress professionally, but a small minority have garnered complaints by wearing muscle shirts or no shirts at all.
"That needs to be eliminated," he said.
The protesting drivers, who addressed council despite not being on the agenda, were escorted out of the council chambers and the dress code is still scheduled to go into effect on Oct. 1.
