Alberta Official Opposition Leader Christina Gray said the government unfroze auto insurance rates, which led to the second-highest ones in Canada. In British Columbia and Saskatchewan, Gray pointed out auto insurance rates are much lower. “Ask anyone who is moving here from BC or Saskatchewan and their rates will triple, quadruple in some cases,” said Gray in a Tuesday speech during Question Period in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. “With the highest inflation in the country, 50% higher than the national average, and with auto insurance already too expensive, why on Earth would the premier now allow auto insurance companies to raise their rates even more?” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith responded by encouraging the Alberta NDP to be patient. “We are going to be releasing the full report of what our plans are for auto insurance in the coming days,” said Smith. “Rather than reporting on just what they may have read in a CBC story, I think they will see that the holistic approach is to address the concerns that everybody in this chamber shares.” Reports have shown Alberta’s auto insurance rates are higher than in the rest of Canada. After going through a comprehensive review and consultation, Smith said the Alberta government has some ideas to fix it. However, Gray said Albertans are the ones who are impatient. “They are the ones that across five years who have been asked to spend more and more,” she said. “Now the media reports are saying the government wants private, no-fault insurance and the elimination of the rate cap, making things more expensive for everyone at the worst possible time.” In a no-fault insurance system, Albertans might lose their legal recourse to sue if they are in a serious accident caused by other drivers. She asked why Smith was bringing in an auto insurance plan that costs Albertans more now and leaves injured ones stranded. While Gray was opposed to the proposals, Smith said the Alberta government has “been attempting to balance the multiple inputs we’ve received from different stakeholders.” “Of course, there are stakeholders who want to preserve the right to litigate, there are others who want to bring the rates down, and there are others who want to have better access to a better quality of care across the board,” she said. “And so we have been listening to all of that feedback, and we want to make sure that we are able to achieve the dual goal — preserving people’s rights, preserving people’s access to be able to get the care that they need, and also bringing rates down, Mr. Speaker.” Gray said the Alberta NDP can help. “The premier should listen to Albertans,” she said. Although Smith has vowed to fix auto insurance, Gray said she has never considered a public option for it. She called her “ideologically opposed to a system that would bring down rates for Alberta drivers.” She said she should ask Alberta Environment and Protected Areas Minister Rebecca Schulz, who worked as the manager for media relations at Saskatchewan Government Insurance, about how affordable public insurance options can be. While she has never considered public insurance, she questioned why that was when it could save people money. Rather than speak with Schulz, Smith said the Alberta government had engaged with Oliver Wyman to examine different insurance models around the world and did get a recommendation about what it would look like if it moved to public insurance. “It would cost $3 billion with a B,” she said. Oliver Wyman found it would reduce private sector employees by 4,500 people. She said it was unreasonable to move forward with it. Smith concluded by saying the Alberta government has looked at all of the information it was given. In a few more days, she said the NDP and Albertans will see it balance various requests. CBC News learned on Monday the Alberta government will be saying this week it will enable auto insurance companies to raise premiums by the more than 3.7% rate cap it enacted and bring about more savings later on by removing personal injury lawsuits and legal claims from the system..Alberta government to lift auto insurance rate cap, end right to sue in crashes .Auto insurance industry sources with knowledge about the changes said the Alberta cabinet has endorsed changing the province's insurance system to a mostly no-fault one.Under a no-fault insurance system, accident victims lose the right to sue the drivers who caused them. To compensate victims, insurance companies pay out injury benefits based on predetermined guidelines.
Alberta Official Opposition Leader Christina Gray said the government unfroze auto insurance rates, which led to the second-highest ones in Canada. In British Columbia and Saskatchewan, Gray pointed out auto insurance rates are much lower. “Ask anyone who is moving here from BC or Saskatchewan and their rates will triple, quadruple in some cases,” said Gray in a Tuesday speech during Question Period in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. “With the highest inflation in the country, 50% higher than the national average, and with auto insurance already too expensive, why on Earth would the premier now allow auto insurance companies to raise their rates even more?” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith responded by encouraging the Alberta NDP to be patient. “We are going to be releasing the full report of what our plans are for auto insurance in the coming days,” said Smith. “Rather than reporting on just what they may have read in a CBC story, I think they will see that the holistic approach is to address the concerns that everybody in this chamber shares.” Reports have shown Alberta’s auto insurance rates are higher than in the rest of Canada. After going through a comprehensive review and consultation, Smith said the Alberta government has some ideas to fix it. However, Gray said Albertans are the ones who are impatient. “They are the ones that across five years who have been asked to spend more and more,” she said. “Now the media reports are saying the government wants private, no-fault insurance and the elimination of the rate cap, making things more expensive for everyone at the worst possible time.” In a no-fault insurance system, Albertans might lose their legal recourse to sue if they are in a serious accident caused by other drivers. She asked why Smith was bringing in an auto insurance plan that costs Albertans more now and leaves injured ones stranded. While Gray was opposed to the proposals, Smith said the Alberta government has “been attempting to balance the multiple inputs we’ve received from different stakeholders.” “Of course, there are stakeholders who want to preserve the right to litigate, there are others who want to bring the rates down, and there are others who want to have better access to a better quality of care across the board,” she said. “And so we have been listening to all of that feedback, and we want to make sure that we are able to achieve the dual goal — preserving people’s rights, preserving people’s access to be able to get the care that they need, and also bringing rates down, Mr. Speaker.” Gray said the Alberta NDP can help. “The premier should listen to Albertans,” she said. Although Smith has vowed to fix auto insurance, Gray said she has never considered a public option for it. She called her “ideologically opposed to a system that would bring down rates for Alberta drivers.” She said she should ask Alberta Environment and Protected Areas Minister Rebecca Schulz, who worked as the manager for media relations at Saskatchewan Government Insurance, about how affordable public insurance options can be. While she has never considered public insurance, she questioned why that was when it could save people money. Rather than speak with Schulz, Smith said the Alberta government had engaged with Oliver Wyman to examine different insurance models around the world and did get a recommendation about what it would look like if it moved to public insurance. “It would cost $3 billion with a B,” she said. Oliver Wyman found it would reduce private sector employees by 4,500 people. She said it was unreasonable to move forward with it. Smith concluded by saying the Alberta government has looked at all of the information it was given. In a few more days, she said the NDP and Albertans will see it balance various requests. CBC News learned on Monday the Alberta government will be saying this week it will enable auto insurance companies to raise premiums by the more than 3.7% rate cap it enacted and bring about more savings later on by removing personal injury lawsuits and legal claims from the system..Alberta government to lift auto insurance rate cap, end right to sue in crashes .Auto insurance industry sources with knowledge about the changes said the Alberta cabinet has endorsed changing the province's insurance system to a mostly no-fault one.Under a no-fault insurance system, accident victims lose the right to sue the drivers who caused them. To compensate victims, insurance companies pay out injury benefits based on predetermined guidelines.
