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MONTREAL — Beverly Bernardo, inset, Communist League candidate for Parliament in the Papineau riding here, campaigned at an Aug. 25 rally of hundreds of taxi drivers defending their jobs and livelihood in face of government-sanctioned competition from the online ride-sharing service UberX. UberX bosses secured exemption from laws, fees and regulations taxi drivers are saddled with. Similar actions drawing some 3,500 taxi drivers took place across Quebec.
Bernardo, a worker at Walmart, received a warm reception as she handed out the Communist League’s platform calling for workers across Canada to form a labor party based on the trade unions. “We need a union, but under the law we can’t have one,” said Joseph, a 35-year veteran taxi driver. Under Quebec law, taxi drivers are deemed self-employed and barred from forming a union. In the two previous weeks Bernardo’s supporters collected 174 signatures in working-class neighborhoods — well over the number needed — putting her on the ballot. Joseph Young is the Communist League candidate for Parliament in Calgary Skyview riding in Alberta. |
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| — JOHN STEELE |