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Above: Black & White taxis at the CPR station about 1928. The company was started in 1918 by Lorne Bucknam and James C. Walmsley. It operated as Bucknam & Walmsley until about 1925 when its name was changed to Black & White. The company survived until 1951. Below: Ad for Black & White Taxi from the 1925 Winnipeg telephone book. The telephone stations are all in central Winnipeg (none in the suburban municipalities).
Source:
Top: c[irca] 1928. Taxi cabs. Archives Manitoba, Winnipeg -- Railway Stations -- CPR (3) 11. Bottom: Manitoba Telephone System, Official Directory – Greater Winnipeg, No. 54, July, 1925, p. 87.
Winnipeg Cab History / 61
The Winnipeg Taxi War (1)
The petition of the old-line taxi companies for regulatory protection put the city council on the horns of a dilemma. If council did not impose regulations on the cab industry, as many as two dozen cab companies could be ruined and their drivers thrown out of work.
On the other hand, if council imposed regulations that cut-rate operators could not meet, jobs would also be lost, particularly by those whose situation was desperate. Not surprisingly, city council itself was split on the question.
In December, 1931, council passed a compromise bylaw that tried to meet the needs of the old line companies by instituting a minimum fare while allowing meterless cabs to charge by the zone. It also imposed compulsory liability insurance (which most companies, including Moore's, were in favour of) and a maximum work week of 60 hours for drivers.
The bylaw pleased nobody. Ironically it was not George Moore but the old line companies who now took legal action to scuttle it.