(Montreal) A Superior Court judge has ordered the Quebec government to pay more than $144 million to several thousand former taxi license holders in the province.
Judge Silvana Conte ruled that the government had dispossessed drivers of their assets by abolishing the licensing system and had not adequately compensated them.
Taxi drivers have launched a class action against the government in connection with the arrival of the transport company Uber, which reduced the value of their licenses.
The lawsuit, authorized in 2018, accused the province of having mismanaged Uber’s entry into the market and of having dispossessed taxi license holders of a capital asset allocated to the operation of their business, without adequate compensation.
When Quebec abolished the permit system in 2019, it awarded holders total compensation of 874 million, but Judge Conte ruled that this was not enough because the total value of the permits before the arrival of Uber was over a billion.
She said the total loss to licensees was $144 million – the difference between the government’s initial compensation package in 2019 and the value of the permits.
The suit also sought $1,000 in punitive damages for each class member, but the judge denied that request.
Bruce Johnston, a lawyer representing the taxi drivers, called the decision “historic.” But he said the loss in value of the licenses amounted to far more than the government awarded drivers in compensation — and more than the judge awarded.
Mr. Johnston says he could appeal the judge’s decision.
Before the 2019 taxi reform, every taxi in the province required a license. The provincial government limited the number of permits in each region, but allowed their resale, creating a secondary market and pushing their value to more than $200,000 in the Montreal region. License holders often rented them, allowing others to drive their taxis for a fee.
