As Waterloo Region continues to look at how services like Uber can fit into its existing taxi licensing service, one MPP says it’s time for higher levels of government to take action.

“Instead of this patchwork of rules from community to community … we should, at the provincial level, work with ride-sharing companies,” Kitchener-Conestoga MPP Michael Harris said at a press conference at Queen’s Park.

“As technology evolves, our legislation must evolve along with it.”

Uber has emerged in recent years as one of the most popular ride-sharing apps on the market.

It allows users looking for rides to connect with drivers offering them. Typically, a fee is exchanged between the two parties.

The service has been met with disapproval from many Canadian cities.

Toronto is seeking a court injunction to shut down the service within its borders.

Officials in Waterloo Region consider Uber use to be illegal at the moment, but are reviewing it as part of a broader look at their taxi licensing bylaw.

Peter Neufeld, the president of the Waterloo Region Taxi Association, says he wants to see government treat Uber drivers the same way they do cab drivers.

“They’re app-based taxi companies – nothing more, nothing less,” he said in an interview.

However, Neufeld also wants to see local municipalities be allowed to set their own rules around Uber and similar services.

“You can’t compare us to Toronto,” he said.

Under Harris’ proposal, the Progressive Conservative MPP says, lower-tier municipalities would still be able to put bylaws in place to control ride-sharing operations or make it difficult for them to do business.

Sean Strickland, a regional councillor representing Waterloo, previously called Uber’s arrival in Waterloo Region “inevitable.”

In an email to CTV News, he expressed support for provincial action on ride-sharers.

“This is better resolved provincially so as to create a uniform regulatory framework,” he said.

“It is important for governments to adapt legislation, where appropriate, that reflects changing technologies that benefit society.”