Driving for some extra cash

Stringent B.C. ride-hailing rules deter some student applicants

 By LINA CHUNG

Some Langara students say they would drive part-time for the incoming ride-hailing companies because they have flexible schedules.

Ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft will be operating in B.C. this fall and students are seeing it as a potential job opportunity.

In B.C, to become a driver for ride-hailing companies, a Class 4 driver’s licence is needed. The vehicle must also be nine years or newer.

Karanpreet Singh, a second-year computer studies diploma student, is applying for his Class 4 driver’s licence shortly, and is hoping to drive in the evenings for Uber in the next year.

“I will do an office job from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., then in the evening I will drive Uber for four to five hours,” said Singh. “It’s an independent job. You don’t have to work under some employer.” them to get extra money.” and you just take your time to go to school or go back home, “ said Fu. “I think that it’s pretty convenient for

He added that you can drive whenever you want.

Student Yao Fu likes the benefits of this independence too.

“The money we get is much more than the [cost of operating a car]...

Both Singh and Fu know friends who currently drive for Uber or other ride-hailing companies in Canada.

Other Langara students were not keen on the idea of driving part-time for companies like Uber.

“I don’t know if Uber pays enough to make it worth it, if you factor in car maintenance and gas,” Dave Scorer said.

The business model is unclear for Alochen Rajaratnam, “Personally I wouldn’t because I don’t understand the concept at this point,” he said.

Right now, there is no shortage of job ads for Uber and Lyft driver job ads in the Lower Mainland.

Uber was first founded as UberCab in 2009 in San Francisco. The following year Uber had it's first trip.

In 2012, Toronto was the first city in Canada to launch the ride-hailing program. Ottawa followed suit in 2014 Uber launched in Calgary in 2015. Today over 40 cities in Canada have Uber and other ride-hailing services.

Describing the results from Monday, Langara political science instructor Stephen Phillips said “it means the governing party commands less than a majority of seats.”

Although a minority may lead to a more non-partisan government, Watson said he’s glad conservative leader Andrew Scheer didn’t get into power. He believes Canada can still do better, especially for students.

“I think more young people should have voted NDP,” he said. “Student fees are so expensive in Canada.”

Young workers in decline

By ANITA ZHU

The number of youth aged 15-24 with jobs is on the decline, according to a recent Statistics Canada study. Based on the Stats Can numbers, the unemployment rate fell to 12.7 per cent from 12.2 per cent in the last few months.

According to some Langara students, the reason why they aren’t looking for jobs is because of busy school schedules or a desire to focus on their academics.

Some programs like Studio 58 do not allow students to have jobs during the term.

The average rate of unemployment for youth 15-29 was 11.8% between 1990 and 2015

“I have to focus on my studies,” explained Langara student Mihaela Andruseac. “I am studying full time.”

Some want jobs but find it tough to find one.

Langara art student Mathew Sever said he sometimes found that “language can be a barrier.”

The number of students who applied for the SWAP program this fall increased compared to this past summer, Erin Hagen, the administrative coordinator from student services said in an email to The Voice However, the number of students who actually submitted hours dropped to 49 from 60.

Watson pointed out that life is easier and more affordable for students in other countries such as Sweden and Denmark.

Tessa Scramstad, an arts student, said members of parliament need to take a more aggressive approach to climate change and said she doesn’t think the prime minister is up for the task.

“Justin Trudeau and the pipeline situation is not a good situation at all,” Scramstad said.

Sixty-six per cent of registered voters when to the polls, a two percent decrease from 2015.