BC Liberals set to debate ICBC’s future at party convention

BRITISH COLUMBIA (NEWS 1130) – It’s time to look for an alternative to ICBC, that proposed policy shift headlines a number of policy debates happening at the BC Liberal convention this weekend.

A number of delegates are pushing for the party to formally vote to scrap ICBC and look for a different way of handling car insurance in this province.

RELATED: Families will be nailed with ICBC rate hikes disguised as flat fees, critics say

Eric Detenau is one of the co-chairs of the 2018 convention and feels discussions like this are vital.

“It’s critical, absolutely critical that we discuss real, quality content such as this resolution,” says Detenau. “We’re a big tent and there’s definitely a wide variety of ideas and discussions happening on this issue. We’ll see what happens. We are a free enterprise party. Choice is important to us.”

WATCH: New ICBC fees or hidden rate hike?

 

One group hoping BC Liberal delegates get on board with supporting a change is the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. It would like to see ICBC transformed into a co-op.

“We’ve asked [BC Liberal leader] Andrew Wilkinson what he thinks about it,” says Kris Sims with the CTF of moving on from ICBC in its current form. “Hopefully the leader will want to take cues from his delegates and I think he will. If his delegates come forward and say this is something we really want, it’s just natural for a leader to agree with it.”

RELATED: ICBC proposes changes to make rates fairer, bigger discounts for safe drivers

“Just imagine if the government owned the grocery store and there was only one store that we could shop at, just imagine the kind of products and the prices we would have to deal with as we weren’t allowed to shop around and save money,” said Sims. “That’s all we are asking for, is give B.C. drivers the choice.”

This convention comes at a time when the party is perhaps looking for a renewal and some fresh ideas after last year’s defeat in the provincial election. Beyond the policy debates, the party is rolling out a new logo and slogan.

Regardless of what BC Liberal delegates decide this weekend, the public insurer likely won’t be going away any time soon. The NDP government is in the process of reforming ICBC and has indicated it doesn’t have plans to explore privatization.