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Calgary city councillor says third-party screening of Uber was above board

Nenshi discusses his thoughts about rideshare company Uber while using Lyft ridesharing in Boston April 20, 2016. Youtube, TheUberTapes

CALGARY – The head of Calgary’s standing policy committee on protective services says she has confirmed the city did not send convicted sex offenders or violent criminals to test Uber’s screening process.

Coun. Diane Colley-Urquhart says she thoroughly checked with bylaw services and a third-party contractor hired to investigate the ride-hailing service.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi was unaware his comments were being livestreamed recently while he was using a car service in Boston.

READ MORE: ‘This man goes on a rant!’: Rideshare driver describes Calgary mayor’s camera slip 

He suggested to the driver the city had sent “registered sex offenders … and people with convictions for violent crimes” to see if they could get through the background checks for Uber.

Nenshi later apologized to council, saying “we know anecdotally that someone made it through the process who had a criminal conviction,” but saying he was sorry “that I made it sound like there was a lot more to it than that.”

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Nenshi also apologized for using a vulgar word to describe the CEO of Uber.

With files from CFFR

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