Two airport limousine drivers were handcuffed and ejected from City Hall on Tuesday after a heated debate broke out over a proposed bylaw to ban out-of-town cabs from picking up fares in Toronto.
A total of five taxi and limo drivers were charged with trespassing after they refused to leave city council chambers after the raucous meeting.
Toronto police were called to calm the furious airport drivers, who had disrupted the morning council meeting.
The drivers that work for limo companies in the suburbs argued with Toronto taxi drivers in the public gallery and then shouted down Councillor Howard Moscoe as he introduced the motion.
Speaker Sandra Bussin called a recess and tried to clear the council chambers, but the agitated drivers refused to leave. Officers and security guards moved in to restore order.
"They're upset," said Louis Vittas of Airline Limousine. "When somebody is taking you and putting your livelihood at risk, they've got no alternative."
Toronto's licensing and Standards Committee wants council to pass a motion to stop the airport cabs and limos from picking up fares in Toronto, even if they are called. But the companies say those runs make up 70 per cent of their business.
"That's the cream," Jim Bell, of Diamond Taxi, said last month. "We're tired of living with skim milk. The cream is going to these outside-of-Toronto companies."
Local drivers say a bylaw protecting their turf is long overdue. They say the legislation would earn them an extra $250 each week.
Following the ruckus on Tuesday, councillors dropped the motion from the agenda and said it will be dealt with at a later date.
Moscoe was annoyed by the interruption.
"I don't believe this government ought to be intimidated into not doing its business, and we will continue this item," he said.
Out-of-town drivers refused to leave until they were told what date it would again be addressed.
With a report from CTV's Desmond Brown
