Cabbies need justice

WE don't need a new law to protect cabbies.

Just enforce those that are on the books.

They are more than adequate. Up to 14 years in prison depending on the level of assault, and life if death is involved.

That's not to say that the violence faced by cab­bies doesn't deserve attention. It does. The recent rash of attacks on Winnipeg cabbies is disturbing.

Among them, one driver was beaten. Another fled his cab after being threatened with a knife. Yet another has suffered permanent brain damage after being pepper-sprayed and clobbered in the street.

For Pete's sake, it's a service industry. A cab­bie's job is getting people to the airport on time.

They provide social value with an availability that reduces the number of impaired drivers on our roads. Sometimes they rush expectant mothers to hospitals. Some people just don't have their own set of wheels.

Despite all the efforts to cap violence with in-car cameras, shields and caution there are still too many attacks.

Here's a shocking number: 120. That's how many cabbies have been murdered on the job in the last 50 years from Nova Scotia to the Yukon to the coast of B.C.

In Winnipeg, five drivers have been murdered since 1980.

Think about it. One-hundred-and-twenty people murdered on the job while driving someone from Point A to Point B.

The Canada-wide problem is especially acute here in Winnipeg as well as Regina and Edmonton, says Phil Walding, manager of Duffy's Taxi, and Balraj Manhas, president of the United Cab Drivers of Edmonton.

We need to pay attention to these people.

Manhas is calling for stiffer penalties for those who attack cabbies. He says, "criminals get away very easily. It happens again and again." That's the voice of experience. That's the front line. Surely they are due more than lip service.

Winnipeg's history of violence aimed at taxi driv­ers is especially gruesome.

John McCaw, a senior, was murdered in 1980.

He'd been beaten up and run over with his own cab and left in the cold of a January morning on the outskirts of southwest Winnipeg. Two people were taken into custody.

McCaw's death sparked a discussion of driver safety, shields and even armoured seat backs. The then-president of the Winnipeg Taxicab Association scoffed at the suggestions. "You can't lock yourself up like a rat in a cage," he said. "We're not New York. This happens once in 25 years."

But there were three more killings in the next nine years. Gurnam Singh Dhaliwal died after being stabbed 40 times in his cab. His badly bleeding body was thrown into a water-filled ditch near Red River Community College's Notre Dame location. There were more calls for shields. The man convicted in the killing later hanged himself.

Less than a year later, cabbie Lawrence Bembin died after having his throat slit by two youths. Still more calls for shields. Following his release from prison, one of Bembin's attackers would be sent back after killing three more Winnipeggers.

Paramjit Singh was last dispatched to Corydon and Arbuthnot in the fall of 1989. His bloody cab was later found on Panet Road. He was found in a ditch near Birds Hill Park where his pants had been pulled down and he'd taken a shotgun blast to the chest. His killer died in prison.

The last cabbie to be murdered in Winnipeg was Pritam Deol. He was stabbed to death in the Maples in 2001. A couple of gang members were convicted.

Cameras and better shields became mandatory after that. And while that has substantially reduced re­ported crime against cabbies, justice must demand a sure and hard line for those who refuse to be deterred. Cabbies are vulnerable and violence against them cannot be tolerated. Not for a second. With the dan­gerous odds that cabbies face -- a potential of being murdered dozens of times greater than the average Joe -- direct, meaningful action with a clear mes­sage to those who attack is the right thing.

While it may be true that perpetrators often don't think before they act, it's wrong to believe that should somehow mitigate a just sentence. Cabbies need justice that delivers a message that would-be thugs would be wise to consider. And if the hood­lum can't be bothered to think ahead there should be serious consequence for the dangerous lack of forethought.

Beatings. Brain damage. Murder. C'mon... they just convey people.

Robert Marshall is a security consultant and former Winnipeg police detective.