Eby fires back at former premier critical of ICBC changes
Posted April 3, 2019 9:00 pm.
Last Updated April 4, 2019 10:30 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) — B.C.’s Attorney General is firing back at a former NDP premier critical of this week’s changes at ICBC aimed at saving a billion dollars a year.
David Eby says people should consider the source of these criticisms, as Ujjal Dosanjh has two sons who could lose business. New changes to ICBC cap payouts for minor injuries at $5,500, and most claim disputes won’t be resolved in court.
“Mr. Dosanjh is a big advocate for the injured and for people who have been involved in collisions and so are his sons. Both his sons are personal injury lawyers,” he says.
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He also says one of Dosanjh’s sons is also the former president of the Trial Lawyers Association of B.C. — the group that file a legal challenge against the provincial government over ICBC’s new rules on Monday.
“Both his sons work in a firm that specializes in car accident work. This is going to dramatically impact lawyers who do this kind of work,” he says. “It’s going to impact the people who work for them. It’s not a good outcome.”
Eby says he is grateful for the work personal injury lawyers do, but says ICBC doesn’t have a choice and the changes are necessary.
“The system needs to change we’re losing about a billion dollars a year,” he says. “We need a more efficient system.”
Under the old system, Eby says personal injury claims flooding the courts heavily contributed to losses linked to massive legal costs.
He argues that most disability groups support these changes.
