Regular licences should be enough, Liberals say

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.

“A tired state-owned insurance monopoly from the 1970s clearly isn’t nimble enough to insure 21stcentury ride-sharing,” he said.

In a tweet, he called on B.C. Green Leader Andrew Weaver, who has expressed disappointment at the NDP plan, to back the changes.

Other Liberal 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 sharing is anathema to 21st-century entrepreneurship,” he said.

Shortly following Wilkinson’s Twitter announcement, the B.C. NDP quoted previous statements from Wilkinson about ride hailing, many of which echoed the NDP’s current position on the service.

“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 interview with CKNW.