Ottawa taxi driver charged after cab damaged on Airport Parkway

A 58-year-old taxi driver has been charged with mischief after another driver reported his cab was surrounded and damaged on the Airport Parkway while a passenger was inside last month.

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The alleged incident occurred onthe third day of a labour dispute involving airport taxi driversover an increase in fees that certain drivers pay to get exclusive access to the airport's taxi stand.

According to police, the complainant had picked up a fare in the 1000 block of the Airport Parkway on Aug. 13, at around 4 p.m..

The cab was quickly surrounded by a number of people, some on foot and some in taxis, whobegan yelling as they attempted to drive away, said police.

The cab driverwas prevented from moving forward by another taxi, and that taxiended up damaging hisvehicle, police said.

Protests after the labour dispute began in Augusthave occasionally turnedviolent, with some acts of vandalism filmed and posted to YouTube.

The ongoing dispute between airport taxi drivers represented by Unifor Local 1688 and taxi dispatcherCoventry Connections is now in its seventh week.

The OttawaMacdonald-CartierInternational Airport's address is 1000 Airport Parkway Private, in the same area where the alleged Aug. 13 incident occurred.