Liberals hid advice that would have prevented ICBC crisis: Eby
The former Liberal government wrecked the finances of public auto insurer ICBC by choosing to ignore recommendations delivered as early as 2014 on how to avoid a financial crisis, Attorney General David Eby says.
Postmedia News obtained a copy of a Dec. 23, 2014 draft report commissioned by the government that included recommendations to stave off ICBC’s problems, recommendations that were expunged from the copy made public in March 2015.
“It’s really, thoroughly disturbing information,” Eby said after learning of the 2014 draft report’s existence.
When he took over the ICBC file, Eby said it looked like the dire shape of ICBC’s finances were due to “gross negligence and a ham-handed attempt to cover up a deficit before the (2017 provincial) election.”
“Now, it’s starting to look a lot more like malice,” Eby said. “The government knew in 2014 it could have avoided a crisis if it had taken action. Now we’re living a crisis because they didn’t.”
He wants former transportation minister Todd Stone and finance minister Mike de Jong to explain why the recommendations were removed from the final report.
In a written response, Stone replied: “(Any) suggestion that our government did not take serious action to combat increasing cost pressures and the need for further ICBC rate hikes for good drivers is absolutely false.”
The statement, emailed to Postmedia News, did not address specific questions about the 2014 draft report and the deleted recommendations, but highlighted measures the government did take, such as reducing executive salaries, increasing fines for distracted driving and introducing new tools to fight fraud.
The 2014 draft report, prepared by accounting and consulting firm EY included recommendations on capping minor injury claims, hiking premiums for high-risk drivers and changes in how ICBC’s capital reserves were set. According to the report, the changes outlined in the seven-page document collectively could have saved the Crown corporation hundreds of millions of dollars.
Stone said in his statement the measures government did take saved “hundreds of millions of dollars.”
“There were also a variety of other measures to reduce costs at ICBC going forward outlined in a detailed independent report that I ordered in 2016,” Stone wrote. “The NDP government chose to ignore those recommendations.”
Eby said the NDP are talking about implementing some of the same changes that were recommended — limiting minor claims and raising premiums for high-risk drivers.
“It’s really disappointing to me to know that our options have been dramatically limited” because the previous government avoided difficult discussions with its suppliers, such as auto body repair shops and lawyers, about significant changes, Eby said. “I don’t know why Todd Stone would remove that section from the report. I can’t explain it. I think he should.”