In October 2014, just a month after UberX’s debut in Toronto, National Post columnist Chris Selley was already worrying about the ride-hailing service’s future.

While Uber was “absolutely, mind-bogglingly fantastic,” Selley gushed, “Toronto’s municipal government is where bold, innovative ideas go to die.” Uber was in jeopardy because “regulators gotta regulate.” Toronto taxi drivers were required to have special licenses, and UberX — the budget branch of the Uber tree — wouldn’t thrive if the city enforced that mandate.

But Selley had a plan: “immediate, massive Uber adoption.” If enough people started using the regulation-flouting service, it would be both impractical and politically unpopular to crack down.