The BC NDP were campaigning in Richmond on Thursday morning and made an announcement targeted at drivers in the province.
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NDP → campaign → province
Leader David Eby announced that they will freeze basic car insurance rates through the Insurance Bureau of British Columbia for three years.
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they → announce → years
This comes after Eby and interim BC Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson traded barbs about the future of the no-fault insurance model, which was introduced by the BC NDP in 2021.
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which → come → 2021
Details of a letter penned by Doerkson to trial lawyers became public on Tuesday through the MoveUp union, which represents workers at ICBC.
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which → pen → ICBC
In the letter, Doerkson says all options are on the table, including a hybrid model.
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options → say → model
Doerkson says no-fault insurance has been “very challenging” for the residents for multiple reasons.
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insurance → say → reasons
“Obviously we have to provide affordable insurance coverage for all of our residents, but for those that have experienced catastrophic injury and potentially life-altering injury, this program has not supported them well,” he said at an unrelated news conference in Vancouver.
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he → have → Vancouver
“And in so many cases, we need to improve that and we absolutely have to contemplate this insurance model.”
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we → need → model
Doerkson said he had made “no promises” about the plan.
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he → say → plan
But in the Sept. 29 letter to the vice-president of the Insurance Bureau of Canada, and the presidents of the Law Society of B.C., the Trial Lawyers Association of B.C., and the Canadian Bar Association, he says new legislation would be passed within a year of the BC Conservatives being elected.
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Conservatives → say → year
“Accident victims will get back their right to recover for their serious injuries, and government will get out of the legal profession’s business.”
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government → get → business
he says.
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he → say → ?
He says B.C. can look to Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, P.E.I., and Newfoundland and Labrador, which “all have hybrid insurance models.
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which → say → models
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“We can learn from them and do better,” he adds.
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he → get → them
Called the Enhanced Care model, it is based on the premise that any B.C. resident injured in a crash is entitled to care and recovery benefits, no matter who is responsible for the crash.
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who → call → crash
In January, ICBC’s CEO says that its no-fault insurance model has kept rates steady for years.
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model → say → years
There has been opposition since ICBC switched to the no-fault model.
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ICBC → switch → model
“The provincial government is gouging ICBC for profits while denying seriously injured victims justice from our courts,” Steve Kooner, then-BC Conservative critic for the attorney general, said earlier this year.
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Kooner → gouge → general
Under the no-fault model, it strips away people’s legal rights to sue following a crash.
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it → strip → crash
“I know the new system is not perfect,” Eby said on Thursday.
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Eby → know → Thursday
“I know because we’re doing a review right now to make sure that people are looked after under that system.
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people → know → system
But I can tell you this, that doubling people’s insurance costs by moving to the hybrid system that the Conservatives secretly proposed to do, by taking money from British Columbians to pay lawyers instead of pay people who are injured, that’s not the path forward to cost certainty for British Columbians.
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that → tell → Columbians
Eby said that if B.C. had the hybrid system, people’s car insurance would more than double every year.
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insurance → say → system
“They won’t tell us how they’re gonna pay for their promises,” Eby said of Doerkson.
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Eby → tell → Doerkson
Campaigning on Thursday, Doerkson said the letter sent to the trial lawyers was never intended to be private.
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letter → campaign → lawyers
“The reality is that we need to contemplate ICBC,” he said.
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he → need → ICBC
And, you know, the reality is David Eby does not seem willing to talk about that.
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Eby → know → that
We’ve had a committee in the legislature that began, that had hundreds of people that have reached out to this committee to explain and share the challenges that they have had to endure in this system.
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they → have → system
Doerkson added that the current system has to be affordable and there has to be support for people who have been injured in an accident.
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who → add → accident
He did not say how the BC Conservatives would fund the changes to ICBC, but did say that they are trying to supercharge an economy in peril.
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they → say → peril
“The reality is that we have a number of industries that are struggling under the weight of permitting,” Doerkson said.
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Doerkson → have → permitting
“We have residents that are struggling under downward pressure of taxes that continue to be thrown at them…
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that → have → them
We are absolutely committed to getting this economy going in British Columbia in every way we can.
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we → commit → way
The BC Conservatives also announced on Thursday morning that if elected they will immediately introduce a $1,000 tax cut for most British Columbians, meaning residents will not have to pay income tax on their first $32,000 in earnings.
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residents → announce → earnings
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