Ottawa committee gives green light to towing industry charter for licensing and sets rates – Ottawa | The Canadian News

An Ottawa committee took a big step toward regulating the city’s towing industry on Thursday in the hope that a proposal to establish flat rates and license operators in the nation’s capital will provide some predictability for those in need of a trailer.

The Ottawa Community and Protective Services Committee (CPSC) unanimously approved a staff proposal at Thursday morning’s meeting to create a new statute governing tow truck drivers, operators and storage facilities in the city.

If approved by the city council, each of the aforementioned parties would need to obtain a license, which would require operators to have a good driving record, pass a police check, and show proof of insurance to run a towing business.

The ordinance would set flat rates for towing services starting at $ 300 for a car involved in a collision, for example.

City staff said the set rates, which are used in some other Ontario municipalities, include additional fees that are sometimes added to the customer’s bill after towing.

These “high and inconsistent rates” have been the source of some exorbitant costs that have skyrocketed lately in Ottawa, CPSC President Matt Luloff said Thursday, adding that there is a need for “clear accountability” for operators. .

Another aspect of the ordinance would set a 72-hour limit on how long storage facilities can keep a car on their lot before notifying the owner, another pain point that councilors and staff said Thursday had been exploited in the Last few years by local businesses that had cars and daily costs to maintain a vehicle went up without even talking to the owners.

Express Towing’s Ali Awada, the only delegate to speak on the motion Thursday, praised the proposed statute as long overdue for local industry.

“We’ve been talking about this for years, thank God you guys are really putting something in its place,” he said.

“There are good apples in any business, there are also bad apples. In fact, this can regulate certain things, regulate prices, regulate who is in business and who is not. “

Although the statute provides clarity to the industry, Awada said there are still “gray areas” in the city’s towing scheme that make it difficult for small suppliers to do business.

He cited the use of private parking enforcement agencies (PPEAs), companies that are delegated to issue parking tickets and, if necessary, call for the removal of improperly parked cars from private property, as a concern for his business.

Owners often hire a small towing operator to remove illegally parked cars from their lot, Awada said. But the use of PPEA, which by default is the towing operator contracted by the city to pick up a car, raises disputes over which company should get the trailer.

Roger Chapman, Ottawa’s chief of statutes, said in a press release after the committee meeting that there is nothing in the proposed statute that prevents an owner from calling their preferred towing company to remove a car from their property.

He also said that Ottawa’s two-year PPEA pilot program that allows these agencies to tow vehicles themselves has not seen much acceptance, with fewer than 50 PPEAs being towed over the course of the pilot.

The statute also does not address concerns about suspected criminal elements in Ottawa’s towing industry.

A Global News investigation in 2020 found that some members of the Ottawa Police Service allegedly secured connections for their preferred tow truck drivers at crash scenes in exchange for a cut in towing bill or other benefits under the table.

A whistleblower from the Ottawa trailer industry told Global News about the alleged corruption after the RCMP brought charges against three PAHO officers in April 2020.

Drivers have described the current situation, in which the police play as a referee between numerous truck drivers rushing to the scene of a collision to be the first to get the connection, as an abuse of power.

However, the new Ottawa regulations would still allow a tow truck to hitch a car in a collision if directed by a PAHO officer or other authority on the scene, despite claims that the city’s statute is intended to provide peace of mind to car owners after they have been shaken in a crash.

Responding to questions from Global News about a possible gap in regulation, Anthony Di Monte, Ottawa’s chief of emergency and protective services, said during Thursday’s media availability that addressing such concerns is not within municipal jurisdiction.

“That was not part of our process,” he said.

The tow truck drivers who spoke to Global News in 2020 also called for stricter regulations as a tactic to stamp out price increases in the industry.

OPS Sgt. Peter Jupp, who attended Thursday’s committee to answer councilors’ questions about the role of the police in the bylaws, was enthusiastic about the proposal.

“This is a great initiative that we fully support,” he said.

Ottawa city staff said they developed the statute to be “harmonious” with looming towing regulations across Ontario, although it is not yet known when the province could implement such legislation.

Di Monte said that if the 2.5 full-time equivalent positions created as part of the regulation were eliminated when Ontario’s pending legislation takes effect, those staff would likely move to other statutes department jobs.

Earl of Kitchissippi. Jeff Leiper also put plans in place to regulate “staging areas” for tow truck drivers. He cited the concerns of his neighborhood residents about tow drivers parking in residential neighborhoods near the on-ramps to Highway 417 in preparation for responding to accidents, causing safety problems and disturbances in the area.

Leiper’s proposals, presented by Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney, on her behalf, will be considered by the staff in hopes that new rules will be added to the statute in the first half of 2023.

If the city council approves the statute at its next meeting, the new regulations will take effect on January 1, 2022.