It happened on Friday … during a CKNW interview with BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson on proposed ICBC rate increases.
Not surprising, given his previous statements, Wilkinson made clear he wants to get rid of the current monopolistic public auto basic insurance setup.
I disagree with that stand because I remember the extortive rates … with little or no real competition … that private insurers charged when they ruled the roads. And heaven help you trying to get fair compensation if you ever had a claim or had to buy vehicle insurance for years afterwards!
I wrote about that earlier this year: https://harveyoberfeld.ca/icbc-je-me-souviens/
But I understand where Wilkinson is coming from … politically and ideologically.
However, what I couldn’t understand Friday was WHERE Wilkinson said BC should look for alternative better systems to insure drivers and motorists.
The Liberal Leader … who eventually wants to the Premier for ALL British Columbians … said the BC government should look at alternative auto insurance schemes throughout North America and elsewhere in the “English speaking world”.
Huh?
Are private auto insurance programs in Sweden, Holland, Germany, Denmark, France, Portugal, Spain etc. etc. unworthy of examination because English is not their primary tongue?
Weird!
What about how cars/drivers are insured in many of the larger well-motorized nations in Asia, Africa, the mid-East?
Apparently NONE of them can teach us anything about insuring vehicles and the public… if they aren’t “English-speaking nations”, according to Wilkinson.
In fact, he event went on in the interview to suggest where we should look: Australia, New Zealand and the UK.
It was a very curious, unexpected almost bizarre addition to the debate over public versus private basic vehicle insurance coverage.
And frankly, it sure sounds to me like a biased, prejudiced view of the world … and where perhaps half of the BC electorate originated.
“English-speaking” does not necessarily guarantee wise, stable, mature, well-founded solutions to pressing problems: has Wilkinson looked at the state of Great Britain lately; or Donald Trump’s America ?
In fact, maybe those “English-speaking” countries should be deliberately EXCLUDED if we want to see how ANY insurance or public service programs could be run better!
The Liberal Leader should be pressed on his peculiar references … and perhaps restrictive views … if BC’s political reporters can pull themselves away from their pre-Christmas egg nogs to ask a few tough questions.
Harv Oberfeld
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