A report on disparaging comments made by Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi about Uber is to be released by the city’s new integrity commissioner, days after the ride share company has been cleared to operate legally in Alberta.
Nenshi made the comments while riding as a passenger with another ride share service. In addition to using salty language to describe Uber’s company, he also claimed the city of Calgary planted drivers with criminal records in Uber’s employment as a way to test their background screening processes. His comments were caught on tape, and have prompted a formal report from city council.
Integrity commissioner Allen Sulatycky told
CBC News that the purpose of the report is to determine whether Nenshi’s allegations are true.
“He's free to speak about city business as long as it's not something confidential. You know, so I'm not investigating that,” he told CBC. “The only issue is whether what he said was accurate or not.”
Uber has a contentious past in the city of Calgary, choosing to suspend operations there after council approved a bylaw that would force the ride sharing company’s drivers to undergo police background checks, obtain insurance and hold proper Class 4 licences.
However, reformed regulations and insurance policy were made available in the province at the end of June, giving the ride-share company the green light to resume operations, which it agreed to do. Several insurance carriers and companies have since launched new products for the Alberta ride share driver market.
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