B.C. Liberals to push for private insurance for ride-hailing services

The B.C. Liberals plan to introduce an amendment to the NDP’s proposed ride-hailing legislation that would allow for regular Class 5 drivers and private insurers.

B.C. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson announced Tuesday that his party planned to propose amendments to the proposed legislation, which was unveiled Monday, that would loosen some of the proposed guidelines.

The amendments Wilkinson said his party plans to put forward include allowing for private insurers to sell insurance to drivers who want to work for the likes of Uber and Lyft.

“They say they can provide insurance now, not in nine months time as ICBC claims,” he said. “A tired state-owned insurance monopoly from the 1970s clearly isn’t nimble enough to insure 21st-century ride sharing.”

Other amendments would allow drivers to use standard Class 5 licences instead of requiring Class 4 commercial licences, and “let consumers determine pricing and the number of drivers on the road.”

“The NDP’s big government approach to ride-hailing is anathema to 21st century entrepreneurship,” he said.

Shortly following Wilkinson’s Twitter announcement, the B.C. NDP quoted old Wilkinson statements on ride-hailing, many of which echoed the NDP’s stand.

“The issue, as I said, is about the quality of vehicles involved, the safety of the passengers, the safe drivers involved and the insurance product,” said Wilkinson in a July 2018 interview with CKNW.