News that Uber is threatening to pull up stakes in Quebec next month doesn't seem to be impressing politicians.
"Bye bye, I don't care," mayor Denis Coderre told reporters at City Hall on Tuesday afternoon. "Don't threaten me. If you want to threaten me, I've got some Irish blood."
Earlier in the day, Uber's Quebec GM Jean-Nicolas Guillemette said the company's operations would cease for good on Oct. 14 — unless Quebec removed some of the new rules it introduced last month in renewing the year-long pilot project that allowed the ride-hailing service to operate.
Among the rule changes, would-be Uber drivers would have to spend more time training, from 20 hours to 35 — the same training time as cabbies.
Uber drivers would also have to undergo police background checks, rather than checks made by a private firm.
While Guillemette suggested those rule changes were too much for the company, Coderre wasn't quite as understanding.
"If those people are saying, 'well, I'm against that kind of training, and by Oct. 14, we'll leave,'" Coderre says. "Well, I'm sorry, tough luck. I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to lose any sleep."
Meanwhile, in Quebec City, transport minister Laurent Lessard said he's no longer interested in negotiating with Uber, saying there's already been plenty of it over the last few years.
"We are not in negotiation mode," Lessard told reporters in the hallways of the National Assembly. "Uber is a useful service, but Quebec has no intention of modifying its criteria."
The minister added he's surprised that a multinational such as Uber can't find a way to offer continuous online training to its drivers. He also pointed out that new companies, like Téo Taxi, have managed to adhere to the rules.