Quote:
Originally Posted by jammies
Any of you that truly believe politicians are on the take from what is a small time business like taxis are deluded. I would like to be more circumspect, but it is such a ridiculous idea that I cannot take anyone who has such a wrong headed idea seriously.
There is zero chance that decade after decade every council has been in the pay of the so-called taxi cartel.
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I agree. But you need to ask yourself why Calgarians assume bribery is behind the dysfunction of the taxi industry. Why is it so hard to get a cab in Calgary on weekend evenings - far harder than any other big city in Canada? Why hasn't the city addressed the issue, when citizens have been voicing their mounting anger for over a decade?
When a problem is so evident, and a system so broken for so long, is it really surprising that citizens look for explanations outside the normal run of affairs? The City has done a poor job explaining why the taxi shortage is such an intractable problem that it has persisted for council after council after council, mayor after mayor after mayor.
I don't like to see trust in our elected officials undermined by widespread presumption of corruption. But if it makes these councillors wake up and realize they can't sit on these tough issue for decades and hope they'll go away - that sometimes they need to make bold and tough decisions - then maybe some good will come of it.