Once-profitable ICBC suffering under mismanagement
Re: New review ordered for ICBC rates, Dec. 20
Calling for fundamental changes to our insurance lets the Liberals and ICBC pass the buck for their own mismanagement. Let’s not forget that ICBC was not only solvent but immensely profitable only a few years ago before our government pilfered its coffers and a new management regime called for aggressive litigation tactics, resulting in escalated costs.
The powers that be should get their house in order rather than suggest a WCB-style approach that hangs injured people out to dry. Compensation caps and no-fault policies do not decrease rates — just ask Alberta and Ontario.
Meanwhile, the coming years will see a dramatic decline in accidents due to the increasing prevalence of anti-collision technology on the roads. Most new cars come equipped with auto-braking sensors that make rear-end collisions a thing of the past. As these new cars replace the old ones on the road, injury claims will no doubt dwindle.
But for the injury claims that will remain, let’s not strip ourselves of the ability to seek fair compensation. That would play right into ICBC’s hands, while rewarding their bad behaviour and that of reckless drivers.
Nicholas Parker, Vancouver
Climate action unaffordable
Re: Expanding fossil fuel infrastructure a bad investment, letters, Dec. 20
The letter writers so concerned about climate change should relax because they can do little to influence it. Let the relatively inexpensive fossil fuel energy be used with the best clean technology here and around the world and deal with what happens in due course.
The hundreds of billions of dollars expended in the taxpayer-supported solar and wind alternatives, together with the closure of coal plants, have already led a senior U.K. energy official to warn of electricity shortages and blackouts and brownouts in coming years.
The Paris Agreement has no legal standing. Leaders all over the world should start listening to the public before impoverishing them. Jiti Khanna, Vancouver
We should regulate opioids
A more pragmatic view must be taken on the opioid crisis. As the documentary Unstoppable points out, the “chemists” will continue to pump out unregulated and even more toxic versions of fentanyl, killing people and addicting the ones who don’t die. There is a ridiculous amount of money for all involved in the supply side.
Our resources need to be going into assessment and dispensing safe, regulated, cheap or even subsidized opioids. This will put the black marketeers out of business by eliminating or drastically reducing their market.
Let us accept that a segment of the population needs to ease its pain through drug use. Let us accept that this is not a moral failing. And let us treat it like the health issue it is. If the medical community is allowed to treat drug-dependent people with the medicine they need, i.e. opioids, in a safe and regulated atmosphere, they won’t die, they are healthier and they will not have to resort to crime. Their families will be safer. The whole community is healthier. The billions of dollars saved in law enforcement, border services, incarceration and emergency health care can easily fund the recovery and social services we need. Leslie McBain, Pender Island,
Moms Stop the Harm