[getbak]

http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-...ers-in-calgary

A Court of Queen’s Bench judge granted on Friday the city’s application for a temporary injunction to stop Uber drivers from operating on Calgary streets.

Justice G.H. Poelman said city officials made attempts to alert drivers and passengers about the possible safety and legal ramifications of using the ride-sharing service in the days and weeks after the company launched its uberX app in Calgary last month.

“It seems clear to me from the publicity that the respondents were aware or should have been aware of the city’s position,” Poelman said.

City lawyers will seek a permanent injunction at a full hearing Dec. 17 until safety, insurance and regulatory requirements are met.

Colleen Sinclair, a lawyer for the city, said enforcement would continue but hoped the court order would compel drivers to stop operating.

“Our expectation … is that because the court has proclaimed this court order this afternoon that people will stop driving,” Sinclair told reporters.

“If they breach the court order and if we as the city can establish that they’ve breached the court order they can be brought back in front of the court and be held in contempt of court.”

Christian Popowich, a lawyer representing most of the drivers named in the affidavit, argued Calgary’s livery transport bylaw was outdated, written before peer-to-peer ride sharing existed and shouldn’t apply while city officials work to update the law.

“This is all going to be rendered moot in a very short time,” Popowich told the court.

He declined to speak to reporters following the ruling.

Poelman said it would set a dangerous precedent to not enforce an existing bylaw because the city was in the process of revising its laws.

“The respondents do not get to choose which laws are out of date,” Poelman said.