Quebec’s Liberal youth wing is challenging the party’s approach to regulating Uber.
At the Liberal party’s general council meeting in Drummondville this weekend, the youth wing adopted a resolution pushing for a new shared economy framework that accommodates the ride sharing service.
During a lively debate, several young Liberal party members stated that the new Bill 100 was stifling the competition and sent the wrong message.
“(Transport Minister Jacques Daoust) deposited a bill which goes against the core values we've been defending for 150 years - a free market and not restricting competition to one player. So I think it's a pretty basic test that Mr. Daoust is failing now,” said Jonathan Hamel, a Liberal party member for Roberval.
The resolution called on the government to “work with key players in the sharing economy to seek legislative and regulatory solutions to regulate and allow these new practices.”
Youth Wing President Jonathan Marleau called the resolution a victory of the group’s members.
"The importance of an open society in the sharing economy has been understood and we are
very happy. We now urge the government to decide on the issue, " said Marleau, who met with Premier Philippe Couillard and Daoust Saturday morning.
“Change is never easy and we need to talk about it,” he added, saying the youth wing resolution calls for a more open approach to new business models. “We will be ready to help him rethink the bill to make it better for what we think is the sharing economy, the new economy.”
Marleau said the youth wing will talk with Daoust to improve the current bill.
Some older members of the Liberal party, including Casper Bloom, who has never used Uber and has been a Liberal party member for 50 years, sides with the youth wing.
“The party has adopted a position which is opposed to its own principles. That's what bothers me. If we don't invite competition we're going to stop progress. Progress is brought about in large part, by competition,” he said.
Daoust, however, has said he is not willing to scrap the bill, but he is open to making amendments. He was hoping to have it adopted before the end of the session in June, but may have to push the date back, given the opposition.
“At the end of the day we have to make a decision and I think that what we are proposing now will fix the problem,” said Daoust. “Do we have to change the law, do we have to adapt? Of course we have to do things like that, but we need proposals. I haven't received any so far.”
With files from La Presse Canadienne
