'Legalize Uber' says former Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak

What to do about Uber? Can it co-exist with the taxi industry? Does it need to be regulated? Does it need to go away?

Tim Hudak,MPP for NiagaraWest-Glanbrookand the former leader of the Ontario PC party, says he has a solution.

• RegulateUberprovince-wide: TimHudak
• Taxi driver who clung to UberX says he once drove for Uber

He introduced a private members bill he's calling Opportunity in the Sharing Economy. Hudaktold Metro Morning that hestudied other jurisdictions and industries and his solutionhas supportacross the political spectrum.

"It reminds a bit of old battle betweenNapster and the music industry. We have to adapt," he said. "Technology is actually a good thing. No doubt transitions are not easy but we have to get through this."

Hudaksaid hesympathizeswith taxi drivers but believes it'simportant to differentiate the drivers from the taxi operators, whom Hudak suggested may be in Florida because they are so wealthy from the system.

But taxi industry operators are not the target of many drivers ire. Tempers flared during yesterday's citywide anti-Uberdemonstration with many people saying the protesting cabbies were driving people toward Uber, not away from it.

The protestsgot particularly tense when one demonstrator pounded on the window of a car being driven by an UberX driver, and then clung to the side of the car as it tried to drive away. A complicating factor in that incident: the man who clung to the car was actually a formerUber driver, too.

"It was sad, it was ugly," Hudak said. "I worry it's going to escalate."

Hudak said he wants to level the playing field for drivers.

"Let's level up, not down. As opposed to making Uber more like the cab industry, let's make the cab industry more like Uber," said Hudak.

He warned that taxpayers bailing cab drivers out isn'tthe way forward.

"I think the way forward is to legalize Uber, and then return for a license to say, 'OK, you need these basic things,'" he said, which includes insurance.

The second part of the bill dictates less regulation for taxis so existing companies can compete as well.

He said if companies like Uber or AirBnb, or more local companies, waited for government approvalthey wouldn'texist based on the pace of government. "I think we need to get some pressure," he said of updating laws around taxis.

Hudak's overall message is that Uber is not going away.The province,he said, should acknowledge that.

"At the end of the day, consumers are speaking quite clearly by using their smartphones as opposed to hailing cabs. I think we have a duty and obligation to make sure allow for that but under certain consumer protection standards like full insurance," he said.