RCMP are investigating a video that shows a front-seat taxi passenger verbally abusing the cab driver, using racial slurs and telling him to “go back to where you’re from.”
The video, which surfaced Monday but dates back to fall 2013, shows an unidentified man leaning towards the cabbie’s face as he unleashes a series of profanity-laced insults. Some of them implied the driver was involved in terrorism.
“You son-of-a-bitch, you f—ing (expletive), go back to where you’re from, take your wife and four kids,” the passenger yells.
Later, the suit-clad passenger shouts, “What are you f—ing going to do, strap a bomb to your body, huh?”
The video itself was surveillance footage from a camera mounted on the cab’s dashboard, which was provided to the city’s livery and transport services department about a month ago by Checker Yellow Cab, who the driver works for.
City staff confirmed the cabbie involved was Sardar Qayyum, and the RCMP investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Qayyum picked up the man and two other individuals at a party in downtown Calgary, Global News reported. After dropping off the other passengers, the man requested the cab stop for food on the way to his home in Airdrie. However, upon finding out his taxi chit was about to expire, the passenger began to get angry.
Qayyum agreed to the stop, but the man continued the verbal assault. At one point he threatened to hit the cabbie, who responded only to ask for directions. Then, the passenger broke the camera as he left the cab.
Global reported that the man paid to fix the damage, but wasn’t charged. Qayyum, a Canadian citizen, told the outlet he’s still affected by the Nov. 17, 2013 incident.
Qayyum, Checker and Airdrie RCMP could not immediately be reached for comment.
However, the video’s release comes less than a week after the implementation of a new program that requires every taxi in Calgary to display the Passenger and Driver Bill of Rights, which includes a variety of rules for both parties.
A copy of the Passenger and Driver Bill of Rights that must now be displayed in every taxi in Calgary.
According to the list, drivers may ask for deposits of up to $30, and refuse or end a trip if passengers are disorderly or abusive. Passengers, on the other hand, cannot be disorderly and abusive and may direct the route taken.
Though the Bill of Rights has been mandatory since July 15, enforcement will begin September 1.
