THE NDP noted that on Tuesday, the Indo-Canadian Voice reported on a B.C. Conservative commitment to remove the Class 4 requirement for ridesharing drivers.

The commitment says: “The Conservative Party of BC will reform ride sharing legislation to allow drivers with a class 5 license to operate as mandated in other provinces and as how ride sharing companies intended.”

The promise is part of Rustad’s 22-page “Policy Declaration of the Conservative Party of British Columbia,” which was available on the party’s “Official Documents” page.

After the Voice’s story was published, the B.C. Conservatives hastily removed the document from their site. But an archived version with the original document is still available here.

“With this policy, John Rustad would seriously undermine safety and devastate the livelihoods of both taxi and ridehail drivers,” said Ravi Kahlon, BC NDP Candidate for Delta North, on Wednesday. “We worked hard to ensure a level playing field between ridehail and taxi, and to bring in rules to keep all drivers and passengers safe.”

Kahlon called out Rustad for attempting to hide his intentions.

“John Rustad’s own official policy document committed to eliminating the Class 4 requirement,” said Kahlon. “Now he’s deleted this document because he got caught.  But it’s too late, we know his true plans. He would give a massive gift to Uber, which would put passenger safety at risk and harm the livelihoods of so many people. ”

“John Rustad is always saying different things depending on who he’s talking to,” said Kahlon. “Eliminating the Class 4 requirement is good for huge companies like Uber, but it’s bad for passenger safety and the drivers who are doing the work.”

“John Rustad is more interested in Uber’s bottom line than in supporting hardworking drivers,” said Kahlon. “That’s a risk we can’t afford.”