Mayor Fougere said that the enforcement officer accused of trying to ticket a taxi in front of O’Hanlon’s the night of July 12 was simply telling the taxi to move along.
Fougere was on Global News Morning, on Tuesday. He said, “(The taxi driver) was stopped on the street and in a driving lane for quite some time. So it wasn’t to give a ticket, it was to ‘please move on’.”
O’Hanlon’s had just hosted an event showing a documentary about the perils of impaired driving. Someone in the video can be heard asking “You’re ticketing a taxicab in front of a bar?”
“Maybe the way in which he did it wasn’t probably quite as diplomatic, people are emotional, but cool heads certainly should prevail,” Fougere said of the enforcement officer.
Taxi zones were installed along Victoria Avenue near Scarth Street in response to the altercation.
Given Saskatchewan’s high incidence of impaired driving, the video garnered a lot of attention with many criticizing the rigidity of the enforcement officer.
“Both sides have to talk, and certainly I understand what the owners of O’Hanlon’s are saying and we agree with them. We want to facilitate people who want to go home safely, we have no issue with that whatsoever,” Mayor Fougere said.
“The parking stall is not far away, and certainly taxis will want to make money, so they’ll be around anyway, knowing that it’s near the end of the night, they’ll be flowing through there in any case. Our staff is meeting with (the owners) to talk about how we can work better together. Our intent is to have a safe environment.”
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