Save PickupPal in Ontario

This just in - the Ontario Government is introducing changes to the Public Vehicles Act to allow for Ridesharing!

Part of Minister Bradley’s mandate to make Ontario’s roads safe by banning the use of cellphones while driving, he is also making Ontario’s roads green by allowing practical ridesharing in Ontario.

The legislation still needs to work its way through the various procedures, however with a Liberal Majority in Ontario’s Provincial Government we do not see how this amendment will not make it onto the laws books. All we need now is for the OHTB to drop the charges against us and we can move forward!

To all of you who stood beside us and gave us the encouragement to take on the laws - We Thank You!

We are keeping our fingers crossed but this is very good news!

Cheers,

Eric

Well we had our day in court, we presented our side of the story and left it in the hands of the OHTB. To be brutally honest I have no idea how it is going to go, PickupPal was referred to as HAL from 2001 Space Odyssey so as to put what we do in context for the OHTB. Using a reference to a movie that came out before I was born, (Stanley Kubrick 1968), was definitely not something I thought we were going to be faced with - but hey we shall see how it goes.



I will reserve my judgment until the OHTB judgment is made and that should be within a few weeks. While waiting for a decision, we are going to push the the Ministry of Transportation to move swiftly to get the amendments that they indicated to us that the Minister will be making to the Public Vehicles Act that will allow PickupPal to operate legally within Ontario.

Cheers - Eric

This entire fight for the right to Rideshare in Ontario has been very amazing. As I head out with John tomorrow to our hearing I am filled with conviction from reading all of the thousands of comments from across Ontario and around the World, (2,167 to be exact). We have closed the Petition and have gathered up the signatures and will be heading off to Toronto to deliver them tomorrow.

I am very grateful to everyone who signed our petition and lent their support, it means a lot to all of us at PickupPal and we will push on with the courts to get these laws changed. I will update this blog at the end of the day tomorrow following our first day at the OHTB to let you all know how it is going.

Cheers - Eric

We are less than a week away from our time before the Ontario Highway Transportation Board (OHTB). The hearing will commence at 10:00 a.m. on October 15th. at the offices of the OHTB (9th. Floor, 151 Bloor Street West, Toronto). I have been informed that this is a Public Hearing and anyone can attend - however seating seems to be limited to approximately 20 people. No doubt this will be a full house as I have chatted with reporters who said that since our hearing is the day after the Federal Election that this will be a topical issue.

So the question a lot of people have been asking me is what do I think is going to happen? Well I have never been to or in front of one of these hearings before and all I know is that we have the support of thousands of residents of Ontario, the Press and even the Ministry of Transportation. What has been interesting throughout this entire experience is that I have witnessed the power of getting people together to speak up for their rights. What has been encouraging is to see the Minister of Transportation Jim Bradley step up to the plate and agree with us that it is time that the laws change, (CBC Article).

We have faith in the OHTB and believe that given the clear support that PickupPal has it is time to stop shutting down Ridesharing sites and do the right thing. As for who will be at the hearing, John Stewart and Myself (Eric Dewhirst) will be there. Our legal counsel representing PickupPal will be our awesome lawyers at Heenan Blaikie, (George J. Karayannides and Matthew Diskin). Representing Trentway-Wagar will be the law firm of WeirFoulds LLP, (I believe Robert B. Warren and possibly others but I don’t know). I am hopeful that the Chair of the OHTB, Gary Stanley will be there. I have reviewed many of his past decisions and he appears to be a fair and honorable man so I look forward to his review.

Cheers - Eric