London taxi drivers participated in an International Day of Protest against Uber at a rally at Victoria Park on Wednesday.
About 200 people attended the event.
The London Taxi Association held the rally to provide information they say is pertinent to the industry as London city council receives a staff report dealing with unlicensed and illegal taxi services and how the city should handle the situation.
“The City of London should not bow down to what is in essence a bandit cab service that is not willing to follow well established rules put in place to protect the users of taxi services in London, Ontario," says Jason Kukurudziak, president of the London Taxi Association.
Uber responded to the protests in an email to CTV News.
"Uber is bringing innovation to an industry that hasn't seen any change in decades,” said Uber spokesperson Jean-Christophe de Le Rue. “We believe that the right approach is collaboration to ensure smart regulations that supports ridesharing."
Roger Caranci, spokesman for the London Taxi Association, says that "the taxi service in London has for generations provided a safe, reliable and law abiding service with the customer's well being and safety being paramount in services delivered".
Similar protests took place at other cities across the country.
