'Rather than continuing its partnership with the taxi industry to fight against this stronger illegal bandit taxicab company known as Uber, the city decided to abandon its partner.'

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The wheels of justice sometimes turn slowly, but persistence pays. A decade after Uber burst into town and bent Ottawa Council to its will, Ottawa taxi drivers finally got the justice they had been waiting for. Their recent court victory is a salutary lesson for future councils to take their responsibilities seriously.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Marc Smith’s ruling — in favour of taxi drivers in their $215-million lawsuit against the city for its handling of Uber’s arrival back in 2014 — remedied an injustice the city had perpetrated on taxi drivers. But what is even more remarkable is the harshness of the judge’s words against the city. It not only “abandoned” the drivers and “capitulated” to Uber’s “bullying” tactics, but it allowed a “bandit” company to do as it pleased. The behaviour of the council at the time was egregious, and Smith’s ruling is as stinging an indictment as you would ever hear from a........

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