To the editor:
The B.C. Liberals can’t be trusted on ICBC. They never could.
B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson has been everywhere these last few weeks, telling us ICBC is broken and needs to be replaced.
What he never says is that he and the B.C. Liberals were the ones who broke ICBC in the first place.
For 16 years, the Liberals ignored the problems at ICBC – allowing lawyers to get rich while the rest of us paid the price.
It’s time for major changes, like the ones (Premier) John Horgan and the B.C. NDP (government) announced in February.
The new enhanced care model is the right step forward. By cutting out expensive lawyers and legal costs from the system, drivers will save an average of 20 per cent on their insurance.
For most of us, that’s $400 a year. And a system that provides better care for folks injured in an accident — without losing money to lawyer fees or legal costs — sounds pretty good to me.
Wilkinson will still probably say we need private insurance. What he won’t say is that he and the B.C. Liberals took more than $140,000 in donations from their friends in the insurance industry.
Make no mistake: private insurance will cost people more. Insurance rates are going through the roof in provinces with private insurance.
Ontario has the highest rates in the country. In Alberta, rates are going up 30 per cent this year.
I for one am glad to see ICBC working for regular British Columbians again – not just lawyers and the B.C. Liberal Party’s insurance industry friends.
Sarah J. Rose, Vernon