Global News took a virtual ride with rideshare driver John Brravo Sunday, days after he shared Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi’s controversial comments about Uber live on periscope.
“I’m an Uber driver. I’m like a barber, you know? People are going to say things and be a little bit more loose and candid with how they truly feel,” Brravo said in a Skype interview, while driving, Sunday.
Brravo has been working for ridesharing companies Uber and Lyft for almost a year, broadcasting his daily route live online to an audience he says is over 150,000 viewers.
But Nenshi said he had no idea he was creating his “very own episode of Taxicab Confessions” when he got into Brravo’s vehicle in Boston last Wednesday.
“I just had the greatest blessings of the higher power that he gets in my car, I get him talking about Uber… this man goes on a rant!” recalled Brravo. “He’s calling the CEO of Uber every name but child of God. Somehow somebody found it and it’s on all the airwaves over Canada. It’s everywhere.”
The rant included some unflattering words about Uber’s CEO and suggested the City of Calgary tested Uber’s background checks with criminals.
“Uber – there’s no polite way of saying this – have a brilliant business model… and are dicks.”
On Saturday Nenshi released a statement apologizing for the insult and for any confusion his candid talk caused.
READ MORE: Calgary Mayor Nenshi apologizes for calling rideshare company Uber ‘dicks’
But Nenshi also insisted the city has proof of at least one Uber driver who passed through the company’s own background check, despite having an active assault charge. How did the city find out? Nenshi says he doesn’t know.
“As I announced publicly earlier this year, the City became aware of at least one driver who passed through the background check used by Uber in Calgary despite having an active assault charge against him or her. This is the extent of my knowledge on the matter. I am not aware of anyone convicted of a sexual offence clearing the background check used by Uber in Calgary,” Nenshi said.
Brravo suggested people should cut the mayor some slack and called Nenshi “a five-star Uber rider.”
“Every time someone gets in a position of power y’all act like he is supposed to think and talk a certain way. He’s human just like you and me,” Brravo said.
“He’s under pressure man, give him a break!”
But Nenshi’s cohorts at city hall may not let him off so easily.
Councillor Richard Pootmans said Sunday, “there will be questions on the floor of the council tomorrow.”
He also suggested the city’s ethics advisor could help in letting council know exactly where the boundaries are.
“I think we have to be careful to preserve the integrity of the bylaws and enable the bylaw enforcement agency to go out and enforce bylaws. But we also have to be clear about what standards we are using as we approach that,” Pootmans said.
“First of all, administration, if they do something like that they would never let us know,” councillor Sean Chu said. “That is operational and, as a councillor, I have never heard nothing like this.”
-With files from Reid Fiest and Carolyn Kury de Castillo
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