N.L. halts first ride-share permit within days, cites ‘new information’ about owner
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/01/2024 (979 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Just days after celebrating the issuing of the province’s first ride-sharing licence, the Newfoundland and Labrador government has suspended it, citing possible “new information” about the successful company.
The information came to light the same day the province announced it had awarded a licence to local company Redsea Riding, owned and operated by Yosief Tesfamicael, the Department of Digital Government and Service NL said Tuesday.
“On Friday, new information was brought to the department’s attention potentially related to the licensee and the matter is under further review,” said an email from Tina Newhook, the department’s director of communications.
“In the meantime, the department has suspended the licence until further notice.”
A case summary report at the province’s Supreme Court shows that a person named Yosief Tesfamicael has pleaded not guilty to six charges, including sexual assault, sexual interference and unlawfully making sexually explicit material available to a child. A trial is set to begin in October on the charges that were filed Oct. 18, 2023.
Tesfamicael spoke to The Canadian Press on Friday about his plans to launch the province’s first Uber-style ride-sharing operation in the St. John’s area, but when contacted Tuesday, he had no comment.
The Liberal government said last year that it intended to build a “provincial approach” to ride-sharing. It made new rules and began accepting licence applications in December.
Provincial regulations require anyone applying for a licence to operate a “transportation network company” to prove they have obtained criminal record checks for all potential drivers. The province’s news release Friday announcing Redsea’s licence said the company employed 10 drivers, but it did not say if Tesfamicael was among them.
Redsea Riding’s application for a ride-sharing licence met the department’s requirements, Newhook’s email said. And though she was asked, she did not say if the department would change the way it scrutinizes applicants for permits.
In a news release after local news outlet VOCM broke the story on Tuesday, the Progressive Conservative Opposition questioned the government’s due diligence in issuing ride-sharing licences.
“The ride-sharing industry has not even arrived yet in (Newfoundland and Labrador) and we have controversy and serious public safety issues,” Joedy Wall, the party’s shadow minister for digital government and Service NL, said in the release.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 23, 2024.