Taxi driver changes job in "lost cause"

After twenty years of transporting customers on board his taxi, Ralph El-Haddad made the decision to give up the fight between the drivers and the government and to completely redirect his career.

ALSO READ

Taxi drivers storm Casino de Montréal

He who was one of the figures of the taxi drivers' protest on the streets of Montreal last spring left the taxi industry to open a used car dealership with a business partner. A decision that Ralph El-Haddad does not regret for a second.

"I saw that the minister, despite all the pressure we were trying to make, would not back down. I thought to myself, before it's too late, I'm able to kick myself out and do something in my life, "says the ex-cab driver.

Auto Target has been open for about a month in Laval and has more than twenty used vehicles for sale. If he turned the page on this part of his life, Mr. El-Haddad continues to follow the fight of his former colleagues, including his father and friends.

"I'm young, I'm able to get fired, but the 60-70-year-olds have lost everything. […] It's the investment of a life they have just lost, "he laments.

Ralph El-Haddad does not hide it, the fight – lost in advance according to him – against Bill 17 on the deregulation of the taxi industry has undermined his physical and mental health.

"I fell into a small depression, went to the hospital and my doctor prescribed medication. I saw that I was losing everything and I was losing my brain in it. It could not continue like that, "he explains.

It was these health problems that drove him to abandon everything and turn to a new career. Today, the father believes that he has made the right decision.

"It's inhuman what is happening today for taxi drivers," he denounces. They have been following the laws for years. […] Personally, I see that it is a lost cause, but I hope that I am wrong. "

Other drivers could follow Mr. El-Haddad's footsteps, but starting from scratch is not for everyone.

"They are not all as lucky as I was," he notes. It's very difficult to change course, especially when you have a big investment and big debts to the bank for your [taxi] license. "