‘I just want to get home’: Iqaluit student calls for women-only rideshare
Rosalie DeMaio to host Aug. 27 meeting for participants to share their stories about taxi services
Rosalie DeMaio sits in her family truck in front of an Iqaluit store Monday talking with Molly Ell about her idea to create a women-only rideshare service.(Photo by Mosha Folger)
Unwanted comments and advances from some male taxi drivers make Rosalie DeMaio question whether she can safely rely on cabs to get around Iqaluit.
The 22-year-old college student is promoting a women-focused rideshare service, saying women shouldn’t have to choose between an uncomfortable taxi ride and staying home.
“[Drivers] have said creepy stuff to me, and I don’t want my friends or myself to deal with that,” DeMaio said in an interview.
“I can’t keep living in fear and I think other people feel the same way.”
She is organizing a community meeting Aug. 27 at 7 p.m. at the YWCA-Agvik women’s shelter to discuss creating a Facebook group, app or carpooling network where women could co-ordinate rides among themselves.
The idea grew from noticing that her female friends often FaceTime one another while travelling by taxi to the grocery store or from bars at night.
“That’s when I started thinking, if we shared our cars, organize ourselves better, and make more of a community effort to help each other out like that, I feel like it would be a different story,” the Nunavut Arctic College student said.
DeMaio said one time a driver called her “baby girl” when asking about her night at the bar and then offered her wine.
“I said, ‘No, I want to go to bed.’ And he said, ‘You can go to my bed,'” DeMaio said, adding that she has also been followed or watched after being dropped off.
DeMaio said she has not complained directly to Caribou Cabs, Iqaluit’s largest taxi service, because her focus when she feels unsafe is getting home rather than noting the cab’s licence plate number.
Caribou Cabs has not received any direct complaints from female passengers about inappropriate behaviour, said Rod Mugford, the company’s business development compliance manager.
“No business is without complaints,” Mugford said.
“Don’t get me wrong. But we haven’t heard about someone coming forward and saying directly to Caribou Cabs that they felt uncomfortable by how they were talked to or they felt uncomfortable while they were in a cab with a driver.”
Mugford said he’s aware issues exist through social media posts and “third-party information.”
The company began implementing a broader health and safety and human resources program in January, including training on passenger and driver safety, anti-harassment, sexual misconduct, and cultural sensitivity.
Drivers are taught not to ask passengers personal questions, such as whether a passenger is married or single, he said.
The program is intended to prevent problems rather than simply respond to complaints, Mugford said.
Caribou Cabs is also upgrading cameras in its vehicles to record audio and video inside and outside the cab, Mugford said, adding most of the fleet is already equipped.
DeMaio has also raised concerns about taxi drivers picking up additional passengers before taking her home.
Mugford said the bylaw permits one additional passenger, but passengers who are uncomfortable with another person entering the cab should tell the driver, who can use discretion about making the additional stop.
DeMaio is trying to get funding to develop an app. She hopes the project will eventually have an Inuktitut name reflecting women helping each other reach a safe place.
“I think this is important and if no one else is gonna do it, I’ve got to stand up and do it myself,” DeMaio said.
I think this is great, I think there is a lot of questionable taxi drivers. I wish there was alternative such as Uber so the taxi drivers start to smarten up and can not take advantage of vulnerable ladies. Iqaluit has become a really unsafe community.
Uber would be much worse – no screening of drivers at all. In Toronto we see plenty of sexual assault charges against drivers who answer only to themselves
You are correct, however I was thinking the local uber drivers would be safer as most people would know who they are versus stranger uber driver in a big city. This does not solve everything but everyone knew the taxi drivers ion the 80’s and felt safe around them for the most part versus today’s taxi drivers.
Good luck with this Rosalie.
“No business is without complaints… don’t get me wrong”
Don’t worry Rob, no one will get a flippant cop out like that wrong.
Yeah those places has gotten their own place. Some people has to move and move away from their parents. Gotta be careful where we apply for jobs, not be so much. For educated individuals it’s not much fair.
What is the demographic makeup of taxi drivers in Iqaluit ?
The demographic that is willing to work regularly.
I think the newly adopted program for the drivers is a positive step towards creating a safer environment for the public, and when it’s coupled with the improved audio and video components added to the fleet, simply will ensure reductions in both valid and false complaints against the drivers who may not have a thorough understanding of local rules or legal obligations/risks.
50% of Canadian taxi drivers are foreign-born, climbing above 80% in major metropolitan centers. More than 1/3 of Canadian taxi drivers originate from India and Pakistan, with other heavily represented source countries including Lebanon, Haiti, Iran, Ethiopia, and Somalia.
Roughly 85 to 97% of Canadian Taxi Drivers are men and taxi drivers make an average salary of $35,000 to $50,000 per year.
If female taxi passenger sexual harassment is a real and pervasive issue, given these occupational metrics, several obvious solutions come to mind other than the band-aid of having women resort to riding in pairs.
If people are willing to accept the status quo of a primarily immigrant labor pool of taxi drivers, some additional mandatory social and cultural training is warranted for this occupation. This would be aimed at ensuring that drivers conform to the minimum standards of conduct required of men around women in Canada that may differ from their country of birth.
Women are almost completely unrepresented in this occupation. I am actually surprised that women do not protest this blatant inequality in taxi driver job outcomes. Clearly, efforts to attract women to this occupation are in order; as it seems self apparent that female taxi drivers would be much less prone to sexually harass their fellow women passengers. Nunavut Arctic College, here is your big opportunity to tap into non-traditional job training funds by offering driver training for women.
Taxi drivers are poorly paid. Lets face it; if a taxi driver could get a better paying job with less hours, they would. We are not getting the cream of the crop in this occupation, and it is axiomatic that you as a consumer get what you pay for. We as consumers of taxi services across the country set the market price for this service, and it is low.
If a taxi company were to be formed only employing trained, vetted and courteous drivers offering fares at a higher price, and consumers including women flocked to this service, market forces would prevail to establish a benchmark for higher paid professional drivers at a higher cost. Iqaluit, there is a business opportunity for you.
Put yourself in the shoes of a female taxi driver in Iqaluit or any other city…the female taxi drivers in Iqaluit do not work evenings and night shifts for a reason.
Rod at Caribou Cabs seems more focused on the fact that no “formal complaints” were filed than on what these women are actually saying.
Women are describing sexual comments, intimidation, and feeling unsafe enough to FaceTime friends during rides or consider creating a women-only alternative. Dismissing those experiences because they weren’t submitted through the “proper complaint process” comes across as gaslighting.
The better response from Caribou Cabs would be simple: We hear you. We take this seriously. Here’s what we’re going to do about it. Do Better.
Exactly, first impulse is to downplay and pretend all is normal.
Says a lot…
To address the concern made about not noting the license plate to make a complaint; Caribou Cabs should issue automatic receipts for each ride, which would clearly indicate driver, vehicle, and unique ride that has timestamps. That way the user could have all the information they need to make a complaint later. Granted, receipts for cash transactions are less common (which is a whole other issue, but still pretty crazy that they don’t accept cards in 2026), but would be helpful to address this issue. I imagine Caribou Cabs would rather not do this though, due to the extra cost, time, and possible extra complaints that would be received. It’d be a simple step to take though if they’re serious about addressing issues with their employees.